Issue 12, 2015

Single-crystalline dendritic bimetallic and multimetallic nanocubes

Abstract

Developing facial synthetic routes for fabrication of multimetallic nanocatalysts with open porous morphology, tunable composition and tailored crystalline structure is a big challenge for fabrication of low-cost electrocatalysts. Here we report on the synthesis of single-crystalline dendritic bimetallic and multimetallic nanocubes via a solvothermal co-reduction method. These cubes show highly porous, complex 3D inner connections but single-crystalline structure. Tuning the reduction kinetics of metal precursors and introducing galvanic reaction at the active sites during growth were believed to be the keys for the formation of such unique nanostructure. Electro-catalytic oxygen reduction (ORR) and methanol oxidation (MOR) on these catalysts showed dramatic enhancements for both cathodic and anodic electrocatalysis in fuel cells, which were attributed to their unique morphology and crystalline structure, as well as synergetic effect of the multi-metallic components. This work uncovers the formation mechanism of such complex single-crystalline dendritic multimetallic nanocrystals and offers a promising synthetic strategy for geometric and crystalline control of multimetallic nanocrystals with tailored physical and chemical properties, which will benefit the development of clean energy.

Graphical abstract: Single-crystalline dendritic bimetallic and multimetallic nanocubes

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
31 Mai 2015
Accepted
09 Sep 2015
First published
09 Sep 2015
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2015,6, 7122-7129

Author version available

Single-crystalline dendritic bimetallic and multimetallic nanocubes

Y. Kuang, Y. Zhang, Z. Cai, G. Feng, Y. Jiang, C. Jin, J. Luo and X. Sun, Chem. Sci., 2015, 6, 7122 DOI: 10.1039/C5SC01947H

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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