Understanding Alkali Contamination in Colloidal Nanomaterials to Unlock Grain Boundary Impurity Engineering.

ABSTRACT: Metal nanogels combine a large surface area, a high structural stability, and a high catalytic activity toward a variety of chemical reactions. Their performance is underpinned by the atomic-level distribution of their constituents, yet analyzing their subnanoscale structure and composition to guide property optimization remains extremely challenging. Here, we synthesized Pd nanogels using a conventional wet chemistry route, and a near-atomic-scale analysis reveals that impurities from the reactants (Na and K) are integrated into the grain boundaries of the poly crystalline gel, typically loci of high catalytic activity. We demonstrate that the level of impurities is controlled by the reaction condition. Based on ab initio calculations, we provide a detailed mechanism to explain how

SUBMITTER: Kim SH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8778649 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature