Ultrathin rhodium nanosheets

Abstract

Despite significant advances in the fabrication and applications of graphene-like materials, it remains a challenge to prepare single-layered metallic materials, which have great potential applications in physics, chemistry and material science. Here we report the fabrication of poly(vinylpyrrolidone)-supported single-layered rhodium nanosheets using a facile solvothermal method. Atomic force microscope shows that the thickness of a rhodium nanosheet is o4 Å. Electron diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements suggest that the rhodium nanosheets are composed of planar single-atom-layered sheets of rhodium. Density functional theory studies reveal that the single-layered Rh nanosheet involves a d-bonding framework, which stabilizes the single-layered structure together with the poly(vinylpyrrolidone) ligands. The poly(vinylpyrrolidone)-supported single-layered rhodium nanosheet represents a class of metallic two-dimensional structures that might inspire further fundamental advances in physics, chemistry and material science.

Bimetallic AuRh nanodendrites consisting of Au icosahedron cores and atomically ultrathin Rh nanoplate shells: synthesis and light-enhanced catalytic activity

“…The previous excellent studies have demonstrated that the atoms at defect sites with low-coordination numbers are super active for the various catalytic reactions. 22,23,25 Compared with bulk metal nanoparticles, the atomically thick ultrathin nanoplates maximize the number of coordinately unsaturated active sites in the edges and exposed faces (Supplementary Scheme S2) that have an essential role in catalytic reactions. 22,25,52,53 The atomic force microscopic image indicates that the thickness of the 2D Rh nanoplate is only approximately 1.2 nm (Figure 1i), and the nanoplate contains only approximately four atomic layers.…”

“…5,18,19 Recently, the atomically thick noble metal nanoplates, an emerging star nanomaterial for the catalysis, have attracted more attention compared with the traditional zerodimensional noble metal nanocrystals, owing to the extremely high meal atom utilization and superior catalytic activity. [20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Obviously, bimetallic core-shell nanodendrites with atomically ultrathin nanoplate shells are expected to possess greatly improved catalytic activity. No such bimetallic core-shell nanodendrites have been reported to date.…”

Single Crystalline Ultrathin Nickel–Cobalt Alloy Nanosheets Array for Direct Hydrazine Fuel Cells

“…Especially, ultrathin metal nanosheets exhibit high surface‐area‐to‐volume ratio, high electron mobility, and extraordinary quantum size and surface effects 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. For instance, the atomic ultrathin Rh,2, 3 Pd,4, 5 or Co9 nanosheets have shown significant enhancement in catalytic or electrocatalytic properties. Compared to monometallic nanocrystals, alloy nanocrystals have greater potential because their tunable compositions endow them tunable electronic structures and properties, and possible synergistic effect between metals leaving large room for improving the properties like catalysis 10.…”

“…However, the controlled synthesis of ultrathin metal alloy nanosheets still remains a significant challenge due to the different reduction potentials of different components, various crystal structures, and a strong preference for close‐packing/stacking of metal atoms 2, 12. So the successful synthesis of ultrathin metal alloy nanosheets, even for only bimetallic case, was very limited 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.…”

Single‐Crystalline Rhodium Nanosheets with Atomic Thickness

“…The atomically thick 2D nanomaterials show great promises in designing practical applications such as flexible and transparent electronic devices,7, 8 high‐performance in‐plane supercapacitor electrodes,9, 10, 11 and high‐efficiency catalysts 12, 13, 14. Considering the potential of outperforming their bulk counterparts, great efforts have been made to fabricate atomically thick 2D nanosheets.…”