Enabling Pd Catalytic Selectivity via Engineering Intermetallic Core@Shell Structure.

Core@shell nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely explored to enhance catalysis due to the synergistic effects introduced by their nanoscale interface and surface structures. However, creating a catalytically functional core@shell structure is often a synthetic challenge due to the need to control the shell thickness. Here, we report a one-step synthetic approach to core-shell CuPd@Pd NPs with an intermetallic B2-CuPd core and a thin (∼0.

Au/Pt Bimetallic Nanowires with Stepped Pt Sites for Enhanced C-C Cleavage in C2+ Alcohol Electro-oxidation Reactions.

Efficient C-C bond cleavage and oxidation of alcohols to CO is the key to developing highly efficient alcohol fuel cells for renewable energy applications. In this work, we report the synthesis of core/shell Au/Pt nanowires (NWs) with stepped Pt clusters deposited along the ultrathin (2.3 nm) stepped Au NWs as an active catalyst to effectively oxidize alcohols to CO.

Metal-Ligand Interactions and Their Roles in Controlling Nanoparticle Formation and Functions.

ConspectusFunctional nanoparticles (NPs) have been studied extensively in the past decades for their unique nanoscale properties and their promising applications in advanced nanosciences and nanotechnologies. One critical component of studying these NPs is to prepare monodisperse NPs so that their physical and chemical properties can be tuned and optimized. Solution phase reactions have provided the most reliable processes for fabricating such monodisperse NPs in which metal-ligand interactions play essential roles in the synthetic controls.

Recent advances in CO capture and reduction.

Given the continuous and excessive CO emission into the atmosphere from anthropomorphic activities, there is now a growing demand for negative carbon emission technologies, which requires efficient capture and conversion of CO to value-added chemicals. This review highlights recent advances in CO capture and conversion chemistry and processes. It first summarizes various adsorbent materials that have been developed for CO capture, including hydroxide-, amine-, and metal organic framework-based adsorbents.

CuO nanoparticle-catalyzed tandem reactions for the synthesis of robust polybenzoxazole.

We report the synthesis of CuO nanoparticles (NPs) by controlled oxidation of Cu NPs and the study of these NPs as a robust catalyst for ammonia borane dehydrogenation, nitroarene hydrogenation, and amine/aldehyde condensation into Schiff-base compounds. Upon investigation of the size-dependent catalysis for ammonia borane dehydrogenation and nitroarene hydrogenation using 8-18 nm CuO NPs, we found 13 nm CuO NPs to be especially active with quantitative conversion of nitro groups to amines. The 13 nm CuO NPs also efficiently catalyze tandem reactions of ammonia borane, diisopropoxy-dinitrobenzene, and terephthalaldehyde, leading to a controlled polymerization and the facile synthesis of polybenzoxazole (PBO).

Linking melem with conjugated Schiff-base bonds to boost photocatalytic efficiency of carbon nitride for overall water splitting.

Developing an efficient single component photocatalyst for overall water splitting under visible-light irradiation is extremely challenging. Herein, we report a metal-free graphitic carbon nitride (g-CxN4)-based nanosheet photocatalyst (x = 3.2, 3.

Nanoparticle-Catalyzed Green Chemistry Synthesis of Polybenzoxazole.

Enabling catalysts to promote multistep chemical reactions in a tandem fashion is an exciting new direction for the green chemistry synthesis of materials. Nanoparticle (NP) catalysts are particularly well suited for tandem reactions due to the diverse surface-active sites they offer. Here, we report that AuPd alloy NPs, especially 3.

Stabilizing Hard Magnetic SmCo Nanoparticles by N-Doped Graphitic Carbon Layer.

We report a chemical method to synthesize size-controllable SmCo nanoparticles (NPs) and to stabilize the NPs against air oxidation by coating a layer of N-doped graphitic carbon (NGC). First 10 nm CoO and 5 nm SmO NPs were synthesized and aggregated in reverse micelles of oleylamine to form SmCo-oxide NPs with a controlled size (110, 150, or 200 nm). The SmCo-O NPs were then coated with polydopamine and thermally annealed to form SmCo-O/NGC NPs, which were further embedded in CaO matrix and reduced with Ca at 850 °C to give SmCo/NGC NPs of 80, 120, or 180 nm, respectively.

SnO@PANI Core-Shell Nanorod Arrays on 3D Graphite Foam: A High-Performance Integrated Electrode for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

The rational design and controllable fabrication of electrode materials with tailored structures and superior performance is highly desirable for the next-generation lithium ion batteries (LIBs). In this work, a novel three-dimensional (3D) graphite foam (GF)@SnO nanorod arrays (NRAs)@polyaniline (PANI) hybrid architecture was constructed via solvothermal growth followed by electrochemical deposition. Aligned SnO NRAs were uniformly grown on the surface of GF, and a PANI shell with a thickness of ∼40 nm was coated on individual SnO nanorods, forming a SnO@PANI core-shell structure.