Aging amorphous/crystalline heterophase PdCu nanosheets for catalytic reactions.
Hongfei Cheng, Nailiang Yang, Xiaozhi Liu, Qinbai Yun, Min Hao Goh, Bo Chen, Xiaoying Qi, Qipeng Lu, Xiaoping Chen, Wen Liu, Lin Gu, Hua Zhang
Author Information
Hongfei Cheng: Center for Programmable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
Nailiang Yang: Center for Programmable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore. ORCID
Xiaozhi Liu: Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
Qinbai Yun: Center for Programmable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
Min Hao Goh: Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, ASTAR, Singapore 638075, Singapore.
Bo Chen: Center for Programmable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
Xiaoying Qi: Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, ASTAR, Singapore 638075, Singapore.
Qipeng Lu: Center for Programmable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
Xiaoping Chen: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637459, Singapore.
Wen Liu: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637459, Singapore.
Lin Gu: Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
Hua Zhang: Center for Programmable Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore. ORCID
Phase engineering is arising as an attractive strategy to tune the properties and functionalities of nanomaterials. In particular, amorphous/crystalline heterophase nanostructures have exhibited some intriguing properties. Herein, the one-pot wet-chemical synthesis of two types of amorphous/crystalline heterophase PdCu nanosheets is reported, in which one is amorphous phase-dominant and the other one is crystalline phase-dominant. Then the aging process of the synthesized PdCu nanosheets is studied, during which their crystallinity increases, accompanied by changes in some physicochemical properties. As a proof-of-concept application, their aging effect on catalytic hydrogenation of 4-nitrostyrene is investigated. As a result, the amorphous phase-dominant nanosheets initially show excellent chemoselectivity. After aging for 14 days, their catalytic activity is higher than that of crystalline phase-dominant nanosheets. This work demonstrates the intriguing properties of heterophase nanostructures, providing a new platform for future studies on the regulation of functionalities and applications of nanomaterials by phase engineering.
