Structural Ni-Ni Pair Sites for Highly Active Hydrogenation of Nitriles to Primary Amines.

Supported metal pair sites have sparked interest due to their tremendous potential as bifunctional catalysts. Here, we report the structural Ni-Ni pair sites constructed in a well-defined nanocrystal phase of NiP. These Ni-Ni pair sites exhibited a remarkable product formation rate of 123 mol/mol/h for the hydrogenation of benzonitrile (BN) to benzylamine (BA).

Improving CO Electrochemical Reduction to CO Using Space Confinement between Gold or Silver Nanoparticles.

Developing electrocatalysts that are stable and efficient for CO reduction is important for constructing a carbon-neutral energy cycle. New approaches are required to drive input electricity toward the desired CO reduction reaction (CORR) rather than the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In this study, we have used quantum mechanics to demonstrate that the space confinement formed in the gaps of adjacent gold or silver nanoparticles can be used to improve the Faradaic efficiency of CORR to CO.