High‐Yield Synthesis of Crystal‐Phase‐Heterostructured 4H/fcc Au@Pd Core–Shell Nanorods for Electrocatalytic Ethanol Oxidation

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 29; no. 36
• Main Authors: Chen, Ye, Fan, Zhanxi, Luo, Zhimin, Liu, Xiaozhi, Lai, Zhuangchai, Li, Bing, Zong, Yun, Gu, Lin, Zhang, Hua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.09.2017
• Subjects: Au@Pd; Bimetals; Catalysis; Catalysts; core–shell nanorods; Crystal growth; crystal‐phase heterostructures; electrocatalytic ethanol oxidation; Epitaxial growth; Ethanol; Gold; Heterostructures; Nanomaterials; Nanorods; Oxidation; Palladium; Platinum; Synthesis; crystal-phase heterostructures; electrocatalytic ethanol oxidation; Au@Pd; core-shell nanorods; epitaxial growth
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.201701331

Noble‐metal nanomaterials are attracting increasing research interest due to their promising applications in electrochemical catalysis, for example. Although great efforts have been devoted to the size‐, shape‐, and architecture‐controlled synthesis of noble‐metal nanomaterials, their crystal‐phase‐controlled synthesis is still in its infancy. Here, for the first time, this study reports high‐yield synthesis of Au nanorods (NRs) with alternating 4H/face‐centered cubic (fcc) crystal‐phase heterostructures via a one‐pot wet‐chemical method. The coexistence of 4H and fcc phases is relatively stable, and the 4H/fcc Au NRs can serve as templates for crystal‐phase‐controlled epitaxial growth of other metals. As an example, bimetallic 4H/fcc Au@Pd core–shell NRs are synthesized via the epitaxial growth of Pd on 4H/fcc Au NRs. Significantly, the 4H/fcc Au@Pd NRs show superior mass activity toward the ethanol oxidation reaction, i.e., 6.2 and 4.9 times those of commercial Pd black and Pt/C catalysts, respectively. It is believed that this new synthetic strategy can be used to prepare other novel catalysts for various promising applications. High‐yield crystal‐phase‐heterostructured 4H/fcc Au@Pd core–shell nanorods are successfully synthesized via a one‐pot, facile, wet‐chemical method. By using the 4H/fcc Au nanorod as a template, a 4H/fcc Au@Pd nanorod with epitaxially grown Pd shell is prepared, which exhibits superior electrocatalytic performance toward the ethanol oxidation reaction.