Emergence and Future of Exsolved Materials

Abstract

game-changing across multiple fields including but not limited to energy conversion and storage and catalysis, as evidenced by more than 300 papers having been published since the first reports of the method a decade ago. However, to the best of our knowledge only four reviews covering different application-related aspects of exsolution have been published so far. [17][18][19][20] Here, we review the trends that define the development of the exsolution concept in terms of design, tunability, functionality, and applicability. We analyze a set of 300 papers published so far on exsolution, to extract statistical information in terms of design elements (types of crystal structures, exsolvable and host lattice elements), synthesis routes, functionalities, and fields of application, including electrochemistry, catalysis photocatalysis, and other (discussed separately for noble and non-noble metal systems). The selected papers are listed and analyzed in the Supporting Information and the results are summarized in the infographic shown in Figure 3 and in Table 1 and based on these, we highlight exciting future directions of research in this fast-growing field. Figure 3. Exsolution infographic. Statistical analysis on a pool of 300 papers published on the field of exsolution since 2010.

Exsolution Synthesis of Nanocomposite Perovskites with Tunable Electrical and Magnetic Properties

“…Exsolution is a partial decomposition process where metallic nanoparticles are precipitated out of the host metal‐oxide matrix upon thermal or electrochemical reduction. [ 17–20 ] Compared to nanoparticles prepared by deposition or impregnation, [ 21 ] the exsolved nanoparticles have three unique advantages: First, exsolution can generate nanoparticles both on the surface [ 17–20,22 ] and in the interior [ 15,22–25 ] of host oxides. Such flexibility makes exsolution a powerful method to fabricate nanostructures at specific, otherwise inaccessible locations in the devices.…”

Exploring the Stability of Fe–Ni Alloy Nanoparticles Exsolved from Double-Layered Perovskites for Dry Reforming of Methane

“…Since the nanoparticles grow from inside, in contrast to the deposited particles, they remain anchored to the oxide surface, which provides high stability against sintering and In order to overcome these challenges, several alternatives have been pursued to obtain more stable metallic catalysts and supports. One method that has attracted attention in the past few years is nanoparticle exsolution due to the high stability that it confers to the metallic catalyst and the strong interaction with the support [2,[4][5][6]. Exsolution consists of the creation of nanoparticles by the migration, under a reductive atmosphere, of cations contained in the bulk of the oxide support that nucleate and grow in the surface.…”

A Robust Approach to In Situ Exsolve Highly Dispersed and Stable Electrocatalysts

“…[22] However, the Cu NPs catalysts prepared in the wet-chemical impregnation or even traditional exsolution are generally not stable for longer operation due to susceptible agglomeration. [23,24] Herein, we reported a new in situ exsolution of Cu NPs from nickel-based hydroxide (γ-NiOOH) with Cu cations confined in layer structures, denoted as Cu x NiOOH, where x represents molar ratio of Cu to Ni (Figure 1A). Ab initio constrained molecular dynamics (AIMD) calculations demonstrate that the γ-NiOOH framework offers spontaneous in situ exsolution of Cu NPs from interstitial doped Cu, as evidenced by a negligible exsolution free energy barrier (≈0.07 eV, Figure 1B).…”