Solid-solution alloy nanoparticles of a combination of immiscible Au and Ru with a large gap of reduction potential and their enhanced oxygen evolution reaction performance.

ABSTRACT: Au and Ru are elements that are immiscible in the bulk state and have the largest gap in reduction potential among noble metals. Here, for the first time, Au _x Ru_1-x solid-solution alloy nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully synthesized over the whole composition range through a chemical reduction method. Powder X-ray diffraction and scanning transmission electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy showed that Au and Ru atoms are homogeneously mixed at the atomic level. We investigated the catalytic performance of Au _x Ru_1-x NPs for the oxygen evolution reaction, for which Ru is well known to be one of the best monometallic catalysts, and we found that even alloying with a small amount of Au could significantly enhance the catalytic performance.

SUBMITTER: Zhang Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6524567 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature