In situ growth of nanoparticles through control of non-stoichiometry

TY - JOUR

T1 - In situ growth of nanoparticles through control of non-stoichiometry

AU - Neagu, Dragos

AU - Tsekouras, George

AU - Miller, David N.

AU - Ménard, Hervé

AU - Irvine, John T. S.

N1 - The authors thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Supergen XIV Project Delivery of Sustainable Hydrogen (EP/G01244X/1), and the European Project METSAPP (FCH JU-GA 278257) for funding.

PY - 2013/11

Y1 - 2013/11

N2 - Surfaces decorated with uniformly dispersed catalytically active nanoparticles play a key role in many fields, including renewable energy and catalysis. Typically, these structures are prepared by deposition techniques, but alternatively they could be made by growing the nanoparticles in situ directly from the (porous) backbone support. Here we demonstrate that growing nano-size phases from perovskites can be controlled through judicious choice of composition, particularly by tuning deviations from the ideal ABO 3 stoichiometry. This non-stoichiometry facilitates a change in equilibrium position to make particle exsolution much more dynamic, enabling the preparation of compositionally diverse nanoparticles (that is, metallic, oxides or mixtures) and seems to afford unprecedented control over particle size, distribution and surface anchorage. The phenomenon is also shown to be influenced strongly by surface reorganization characteristics. The concept exemplified here may serve in the design and development of more sophisticated oxide materials with advanced functionality across a range of possible domains of application.

AB - Surfaces decorated with uniformly dispersed catalytically active nanoparticles play a key role in many fields, including renewable energy and catalysis. Typically, these structures are prepared by deposition techniques, but alternatively they could be made by growing the nanoparticles in situ directly from the (porous) backbone support. Here we demonstrate that growing nano-size phases from perovskites can be controlled through judicious choice of composition, particularly by tuning deviations from the ideal ABO 3 stoichiometry. This non-stoichiometry facilitates a change in equilibrium position to make particle exsolution much more dynamic, enabling the preparation of compositionally diverse nanoparticles (that is, metallic, oxides or mixtures) and seems to afford unprecedented control over particle size, distribution and surface anchorage. The phenomenon is also shown to be influenced strongly by surface reorganization characteristics. The concept exemplified here may serve in the design and development of more sophisticated oxide materials with advanced functionality across a range of possible domains of application.

KW - Electrocatalysis

KW - Synthesis and processing

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84887659686

U2 - 10.1038/nchem.1773

DO - 10.1038/nchem.1773

M3 - Article

C2 - 24153368

AN - SCOPUS:84887659686

SN - 1755-4330

VL - 5

SP - 916

EP - 923

JO - Nature Chemistry

JF - Nature Chemistry

IS - 11

ER -