Synthesis, processing, assembly and activation of core-shell structured gold nanoparticle catalysts

Abstract

Abstract. This paper describes recent progress of an investigation of the synthesis, processing, assembly and activation of gold nanoparticles that are of potential interest to fuel cell catalysis. Core-shell type gold nanoparticles of a few nanometer core size with organic monolayer encapsulation are highlighted. The activation of the core-shell nanoparticle assemblies towards nanostructured catalyst for potential fuel cell catalytic reactions is discussed. The understanding of the control factors in terms of nanocrystal size and interparticle spatial properties has important implications to the design of highly active nanogold catalysts for practical applications.

An overview of gold-catalysed oxidation processes

“…) and PtCl 4 2) using a combination of reducing and capping agents: hydrogen served as the reducing agent for Pt(II) and acrylate for the reduction of Au(III) [57]. This enabled the preparation of AuPt bimetallic particles with bimetallic compositions in the range 4-90% Au and particle sizes from 2 to 8 nm.…”

“…Zhong and coworkers [56,57] have prepared Au/Pt/C nanoparticle electrocatalysts using a two-phase protocol and these can be used to catalyse the hydrogen/oxygen reaction to produce water in the fuel cell.…”

Photochemical synthesis of gold nanoparticles by the sunlight radiation using a seeding approach

“…All photochemical experiments were carried out in a triangle quartz container with 250ml volume. The surface area for exposure is 50cm 2 . The average molecular weight of PEG used is 400 and 600, respectively.…”

“…Based on the properties, the ongoing and potential applications in the fields of catalysis (1)(2)(3)(4), electronic and electrooptical devices (5-7), biomedicine (8)(9)(10)(11)(12) etc. extend far beyond imaging.…”

Electrocatalytic reduction of oxygen: Gold and gold-platinum nanoparticle catalysts prepared by two-phase protocol

“…Recent advances have shown potential applications of gold-based nanoparticle catalysts in fuel cell related catalytic reactions (18,19). We have recently investigated gold and alloy nanoparticles in electrocatalysis of fuel cell reactions, including CO and methanol oxidation (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27) and O2 reduction reactions (25)(26)(27). Based on recent insights into the surface properties for the adsorption of oxygen and the catalytic properties of gold at nanoscale sizes (18,(28)(29)(30)(31), we envision that the bimetallic AuPt composition may produce a synergistic catalytic effect that involves the suppression of adsorbed poisonous species and the change in electronic band structure to modify the strength of the surface adsorption for ORR (Scheme 1).…”