Development of a New Generation of Stable, Tunable, and Catalytically Active Nanoparticles Produced by the Helium Nanodroplet Deposition Method

Abstract

Nanoparticles (NPs) are revolutionizing many areas of science and technology, often delivering unprecedented improvements to properties of the conventional materials. However, despite important advances in NPs synthesis and applications, numerous challenges still remain. Development of alternative synthetic method capable of producing very uniform, extremely clean and very stable NPs is urgently needed. If successful, such method can potentially transform several areas of nanoscience, including environmental and energy related catalysis. Here we present the first experimental demonstration of catalytically active NPs synthesis achieved by the helium nanodroplet isolation method. This alternative method of NPs fabrication and deposition produces narrowly distributed, clean, and remarkably stable NPs. The fabrication is achieved inside ultralow temperature, superfluid helium nanodroplets, which can be subsequently deposited onto any substrate. This technique is universal enough to be applied to nearly any element, while achieving high deposition rates for single element as well as composite core-shell NPs.

Helium nanodroplet assisted synthesis of bimetallic Ag@Au nanoparticles with tunable localized surface plasmon resonance

“…A particularly interesting field for which the approach seems well suited is the production of SERS active substrates composed of nanoparticles with plasmon resonances in the UV, such as aluminum [53], due to the inert synthesis environment and the possibility to protect core materials from oxidation by suitable shell materials [9]. As the helium synthesis approach has recently been employed for the production of nanoparticles interesting for catalysis [9,54], the approach may also enable the production of systems that combine plasmonic with catalytic properties [55].…”

Ab initio design of light absorption through silver atomic cluster decoration of TiO2

“…Moreover, recently developed experimental tools have allowed ''soft-landing'' conditions in the deposition of metal clusters on solid surfaces to be realized. [10][11][12][13][14] In this work, the stability of deposited Ag n clusters (with n r 5) on the TiO 2 (110) rutile surface is analyzed. Titanium dioxide, TiO 2 , has wide-ranging and well-known applications in semiconductor photocatalysis (for recent reviews see, e.g., ref.…”

Capillary Condensation in 8 nm Deep Channels

“…Condensation in sub-10 nm systems has garnered increased interest recently due to the important role of phase change in climate engineering, − water purification, , energy transport and storage, , shale gas production, , surface treatments, − heat transfer, , and nanomaterials. − The underlying physics of the condensation process at the sub-10 nm scale, however, remains poorly understood. For example, condensation initiation within sub-100 nm confinement can be described through the Kelvin equation, where the highly curved liquid–vapor interface introduces a shift in saturation conditions .…”