Spiers Memorial Lecture: Nanoalloys of multiple components; the road to advance the field and experimental and theoretical challenges

• Published in: Faraday discussions Vol. 242; pp. 1 - 22
• Main Authors: Lehr, Alexander, Velázquez-Salazar, J. Jesús, Montejano-Carrizales, Juan Martin, Mejia-Rosales, Sergio, Mendoza-Cruz, Rubén, Bazan-Diaz, Lourdes, Yacaman, Miguel José
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 31.01.2023
• Subjects: Binary alloys; Nanoalloys; Twin boundaries
• ISSN: 1359-6640; 1364-5498
• DOI: 10.1039/d2fd00137c

The field of nanoalloys has been advancing at a rapid pace in the last two decades. Many new characterization methods and theoretical advances have produced a substantial knowledge of the nanoalloys' properties and structure. Most of the work has been limited to binary alloys. A path forward for the field will be the study of nanoalloys with three or more metals. Adding new components will produce new properties and possibly more fabrication controls. In this paper, we will discuss the challenges that will arise in multi-metallic nanoalloys. We will show that entropy and twin boundaries play a dominant role in multi-metallic alloys. We look at nanoparticles with three or more metals and examine how they are stabilized by kinetic energy and the entropy of the system. The importance of twin boundaries in nanoalloys is discussed.