Conjugated dual size effect of core-shell particles synergizes bimetallic catalysis.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 36725854.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-36147-2 and PMC identifier 9892500.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Core-shell bimetallic nanocatalysts have attracted long-standing attention in heterogeneous catalysis. Tailoring both the core size and shell thickness to the dedicated geometrical and electronic properties for high catalytic reactivity is important but challenging. Here, taking Au@Pd core-shell catalysts as an example, we disclose by theory that a large size of Au core with a two monolayer of Pd shell is vital to eliminate undesired lattice contractions and ligand destabilizations for optimum benzyl alcohol adsorption. A set of Au@Pd/SiO<sub>2</sub> catalysts with various core sizes and shell thicknesses are precisely fabricated. In the benzyl alcohol oxidation reaction, we find that the activity increases monotonically with the core size but varies nonmontonically with the shell thickness, where a record-high activity is achieved on a Au@Pd catalyst with a large core size of 6.8 nm and a shell thickness of ~2-3 monolayers. These findings highlight the conjugated dual particle size effect in bimetallic catalysis.