Issue 12, 2022

Mapping the effects of physical and chemical reduction parameters on local atomic distributions within bimetallic nanoparticles

Abstract

Bimetallic nanoparticles prove advantageous over their monometallic counterparts due to the tunable, hybrid properties that result from combining different atomic species in a controlled way. The favorable optical and catalytic properties resulting from AgAu nanoparticle formation have been widely attributed to the existence of Ag–Au bonds, the maximization of which assumes the formation of a homogeneous alloy. Despite the importance of atomic scale structure in these systems, synthetic studies are typically not paired with structural characterization at the atomic scale. Herein, a comprehensive synthetic exploration of physical and chemical reduction parameters of resulting nanoparticle products is complemented with thorough X-ray characterization to probe how these parameters affect atomic scale alloy distributions within AgAu nanoparticles. Presented evidence shows Ag is substantially underincorporated into nanoparticle constructs compared with solution Ag : Au ratios regardless of precursor : reductant ratio or volume of reductant added. Both Ag and Au exhibit significant local clustering, with Ag distributed preferentially towards the nanoparticle surface. Most significantly, the results of this investigation suggest that reduction parameters alone can affect the local alloy distributions and homogeneity within bimetallic nanoparticles, even when the ratio of metallic precursors remains constant. Overall, this investigation presents the ability to control alloy distributions using kinetics and provides new considerations for optimizing synthetic methods to produce functional bimetallic nanoparticles.

Graphical abstract: Mapping the effects of physical and chemical reduction parameters on local atomic distributions within bimetallic nanoparticles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 sen 2021
Accepted
04 mar 2022
First published
09 mar 2022

Nanoscale, 2022,14, 4519-4530

Author version available

Mapping the effects of physical and chemical reduction parameters on local atomic distributions within bimetallic nanoparticles

H. M. Johnson, A. M. Dasher, M. Monahan, S. Seifert and L. M. Moreau, Nanoscale, 2022, 14, 4519 DOI: 10.1039/D1NR06231J

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