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Dynamic restructuring drives catalytic activity on nanoporous gold–silver alloy catalysts

Journal Article · · Nature Materials
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4824· OSTI ID:1414360

Bimetallic, nanostructured materials hold promise for improving catalyst activity and selectivity, yet little is known about the dynamic compositional and structural changes that these systems undergo during pretreatment that leads to efficient catalyst function. Here we use ozone-activated silver–gold alloys in the form of nanoporous gold as a case study to demonstrate the dynamic behaviour of bimetallic systems during activation to produce a functioning catalyst. We show that it is these dynamic changes that give rise to the observed catalytic activity. Advanced in situ electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy are used to demonstrate that major restructuring and compositional changes occur along the path to catalytic function for selective alcohol oxidation. Transient kinetic measurements correlate the restructuring to three types of oxygen on the surface. The direct influence of changes in surface silver concentration and restructuring at the nanoscale on oxidation activity is demonstrated. Finally, our results demonstrate that characterization of these dynamic changes is necessary to unlock the full potential of bimetallic catalytic materials.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; SC0012573; AC52-07NA27344; AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1414360
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1438304
OSTI ID: 1388711
OSTI ID: 1472028
Report Number(s):
BNL--205660-2018-JAAM; LLNL-JRNL--739604
Journal Information:
Nature Materials, Journal Name: Nature Materials Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 16; ISSN 1476-1122
Publisher:
Springer Nature - Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Solid-Solution Alloy Nanoparticles of the Immiscible Iridium-Copper System with a Wide Composition Range for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Applications journal March 2018
Electrochemical Real‐Time Mass Spectrometry (EC‐RTMS): Monitoring Electrochemical Reaction Products in Real Time journal April 2019
Solid-Solution Alloy Nanoparticles of the Immiscible Iridium-Copper System with a Wide Composition Range for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Applications journal March 2018
Electrochemical Real-Time Mass Spectrometry (EC-RTMS): Monitoring Electrochemical Reaction Products in Real Time journal April 2019
New Architectures for Designed Catalysts: Selective Oxidation using AgAu Nanoparticles on Colloid-Templated Silica journal November 2017
New Architectures for Designed Catalysts: Selective Oxidation using AgAu Nanoparticles on Colloid-Templated Silica journal November 2017
Transformation of Single Ag Nanowires into Super‐Large AgAu Elliptic Rings via a Water/Oil Interface‐Oriented Asymmetrical Etching journal December 2018
Metal nanoparticle-hydrogel nanocomposites for biomedical applications - An atmospheric pressure plasma synthesis approach journal October 2018
Oxygen Adsorption and Low-Temperature CO Oxidation on a Nanoporous Au Catalyst: Reaction Mechanism and Foreign Metal Effects journal January 2018
In Situ XPS and MS Study of Methane Oxidation on the Pd–Pt/Al2O3 Catalysts journal January 2020
Recent advances of nanoporous metal-based catalyst: synthesis, application and perspectives journal August 2019
Engineering the internal surfaces of three-dimensional nanoporous catalysts by surfactant-modified dealloying journal October 2017
Single-atom gold oxo-clusters prepared in alkaline solutions catalyse the heterogeneous methanol self-coupling reactions journal October 2019
Structural evolution of atomically dispersed Pt catalysts dictates reactivity journal April 2019
Crossing the great divide between single-crystal reactivity and actual catalyst selectivity with pressure transients journal November 2018
Imaging and chemically probing catalytic processes using field emission techniques: a study of NO hydrogenation on Pd and Pd–Au catalysts journal January 2017
In situ formation of the active sites in Pd–Au bimetallic nanocatalysts for CO oxidation: NAP (near ambient pressure) XPS and MS study journal January 2018
Salt-mediated synthesis of bimetallic networks with structural defects and their enhanced catalytic performances journal January 2018
Molecular dynamics study on cold-welding of 3D nanoporous composite structures journal January 2018
Perspectives on the design of nanoparticle systems for catalysis journal January 2018
Adaptive kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of surface segregation in PdAu nanoparticles journal January 2019
In situ high-potential-driven surface restructuring of ternary AgPd–Pt dilute aerogels with record-high performance improvement for formate oxidation electrocatalysis journal January 2019
Surface reconstruction of AgPd nanoalloy particles during the electrocatalytic formate oxidation reaction journal January 2020
Measurement of local crystal lattice strain variations in dealloyed nanoporous gold journal October 2017
Green Synthesis of Reduced Graphene Oxide Decorated with Few-Layered MoS 2 -Nanoroses and Au/Pd/Ag Trimetallic Nanoparticles for Ultrasensitive Label-Free Immunosensing Platforms journal January 2019
Picosecond laser-induced surface structures on alloys in liquids and their influence on nanoparticle productivity during laser ablation journal January 2020
Measurement of local crystal lattice strain variations in dealloyed nanoporous gold text January 2017
Atom Probe Tomography for Catalysis Applications: A Review journal July 2019
Aerobic Methanol Oxidation over Unsupported Nanoporous Gold: The Influence of an Added Base journal May 2019
An Efficient Support-Free Nanoporous Co Catalyst for Reverse Water–Gas Shift Reaction journal May 2019
Galvanic-Cell-Reaction-Driven Deposition of Large-Area Au Nanourchin Arrays for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering journal April 2018
Measurement of local crystal lattice strain variations in dealloyed nanoporous gold text January 2017
Measurement of local crystal lattice strain variations in dealloyed nanoporous gold text January 2017

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