Electrochemical dealloying as a tool to tune the porosity, composition and catalytic activity of nanomaterials

Electrochemical dealloying as a post-Treatment can greatly improve the catalytic activity of nanoparticles. To date, selecting suitable conditions to reach desired porosity, composition and catalytic activity is based on trial-And-error-Attempts, due to insufficient understanding of the electrochemically induced morphological and compositional changes of the nanoparticles. These changes are elucidated here by combining electrochemistry with identical location electron microscopy analyses and linking them to the electrocatalytic properties of the obtained nanocatalysts. Using AgAu alloy nanoparticles and the hydrogen evolution reaction as a model system, the influence of cyclic voltammetry parameters on the catalytic activity upon electrochemical dealloying is investigated. Increasing the number of cycles initially results in a decreased Ag content and a sharp improvement in activity. Additional dealloying increases the nanoparticle porosity, while marginally altering their composition, due to surface motion of atoms. Since this is accompanied by particle aggregation, a decrease in catalytic activity results upon extensive cycling. This transition between porosity formation and particle aggregation marks the optimum for nanocatalyst post-production. The gained insights may aid speeding up the development of new materials by electrochemical dealloying as an easy-To-control post-processing route to tune the properties of existing nanoparticles, instead of having to alter usually delicate synthesis routes as a whole. © The Royal Society of Chemistry

Elemental (im-)miscibility determines phase formation of multinary nanoparticles co-sputtered in ionic liquids

Non-equilibrium synthesis methods allow to alloy bulk-immiscible elements into multinary nanoparticles, which broadens the design space for new materials.Whereas sputtering onto solid substrates can combine immiscible elements into thin film solid solutions, this is not clear for sputtering of nanoparticles in ionicliquids. Thus, the suitability of sputtering in ionic liquids for producing nanoparticles of immiscible elements is investigated by co-sputtering the systems Au-Cu (miscible), Au-Ru and Cu-Ru (both immiscible), and Au-Cu-Ru on the surface of the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis-trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [Bmim][(Tf)2N]. The sputtered nanoparticles were analyzed to obtain (i) knowledge concerning the general formation process ofnanoparticles when sputtering onto ionic liquid surfaces and (ii) information, if alloy nanoparticles of immiscible elements can be synthesized as well as (iii)evidence if the Hume-Rothery rules for solid solubility are valid for sputtered nanoparticles. Accompanying atomistic simulations using density-functional theoryfor clusters of different size and ordering confirm that the miscibility of Au-Cu and the immiscibility of Au-Ru and Cu-Ru govern the thermodynamic stabilityof the nanoparticles. Based on the matching experimental and theoretical results for the NP/IL-systems concerning NP stability, a formation model of multinaryNPs in ILs was developed

Anomalous Raman Modes in Tellurides

Two broad bands are usually found in the Raman spectrum of many Te-based chalcogenides, which include binary compounds, like ZnTe, CdTe, HgTe, GaTe, GeTe, SnTe, PbTe, GeTe2, As2Te3, Sb2Te3, Bi2Te3, NiTe2, IrTe2, TiTe2, as well as ternary compounds, like GaGeTe, SnSb2Te4, SnBi2Te4, and GeSb2Te5. Many different explanations have been proposed in the literature for the origin of these two anomalous broad bands in tellurides, usually located between 119 and 145 cm-1. They have been attributed to the own sample, to oxidation, to the folding of Brillouin-edge modes onto the zone center, to the existence of a double resonance, like that of graphene, or to the formation of Te precipitates. In this paper, we provide arguments to demonstrate that such bands correspond to clusters or precipitates of trigonal Te in form of nanosize or microsize grains or layers that are segregated either inside or at the surface of the samples. Several mechanisms for Te segregation are discussed and sample heating caused by excessive laser power during Raman scattering measurements is emphasized. Finally, we show that anomalous Raman modes related to Se precipitates also occur in selenides, thus providing a general vision for a better characterization of selenides and tellurides by means of Raman scattering measurements and for a better understanding of chalcogenides in general.Comment: 45 pages, 8 figure

Pressure-Driven Symmetry-Preserving Phase Transitions in Co(IO3)(2)

[EN] High-pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction studies of cobalt iodate, Co(IO3)(2), reveal a counterintuitive pressure-induced expansion along certain crystallographic directions. High-pressure Raman and infrared spectroscopy, combined with density-functional theory calculations, reveal that with increasing pressure, it becomes energetically favorable for certain I-O bonds to increase in length over the full range of pressure studied up to 28 GPa. This phenomenon is driven by the high-pressure behavior of iodate ion lone electron pairs. Two pressure-induced isosymmetric monoclinic-monoclinic phase transitions are observed at around 3.0 and 9.0 GPa, which are characterized by increasing oxygen coordination of the iodine atoms and the probable formation of pressure-induced metavalent bonds. Pressure-volume equations of state are presented, as well as a detailed discussion of the pressure dependences of the observed Raman- and infrared-active modes, which clarifies previous inconsistencies in the literature.This work was supported by the Generalitat Valenciana under Project PROMETEO 2018/123-EFIMAT and by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Universidades, e Investigacion under Projects PID2019-106383GB-41/42/43, as well as through MALTA Consolider Team research network (RED2018102612-T). A.M. and P.R.-H. acknowledge computing time provided by Red Espan~ola de Supercomputacion (RES) and the MALTA Consolider Team cluster. D.E. acknowledges the resources and technical assistance provided by the Informatics Service of Universitat de Valencia through the Tirant III cluster. A.L. and D.E. would like to thank the Generalitat Valenciana for the Ph.D. Fellowship no. GRISOLIAP/2019/025. R.T. acknowledges funding from the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) via the Juan de la Cierva Formacion fellowship (FJC2018-036185-I). C.P. is thankful for the financial support of the Spanish Mineco Project no. FIS2017-83295-P. E.B would like to thank the University of Valencia for his "Attraccio de Talent" postdoctoral contract (UV-INV_POSTDOC19-1026935). The authors thank Sandrine Beauquis from Symme, Universite Savoie Mont Blanc (France), for her technical assistance concerning the SEM and ADX analyses. PXRD experiments were performed at the MSPD beamline of ALBA Synchrotron (experiment no. 2019083663). IR experiments were performed at the MIRAS beamline of ALBA Synchrotron (experiment no. 2020024118).Liang, A.; Popescu, C.; Manjón, F.; Turnbull, R.; Bandiello, E.; Rodriguez-Hernandez, P.; Muñoz, A.... (2021). Pressure-Driven Symmetry-Preserving Phase Transitions in Co(IO3)(2). The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 125(31):17448-17461. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c0465917448174611253

Lattice dynamics of Sb2Te3 at high pressures

We report an experimental and theoretical lattice dynamics study of antimony telluride (Sb 2Te 3) up to 26 GPa together with a theoretical study of its structural stability under pressure. Raman-active modes of the low-pressure rhombohedral (R-3m) phase were observed up to 7.7 GPa. Changes of the frequencies and linewidths were observed around 3.5 GPa where an electronic topological transition was previously found. Raman-mode changes evidence phase transitions at 7.7, 14.5, and 25GPa. The frequencies and pressure coefficients of the new phases above 7.7 and 14.5 GPa agree with those calculated for the monoclinic C2/m and C2/c structures recently observed at high pressures in Bi 2Te 3 and also for the C2/m phase in the case of Bi 2Se 3 and Sb 2Te 3. Above 25 GPa no Raman-active modes are observed in Sb 2Te 3, similarly to the case of Bi 2Te 3 and Bi 2Se 3. Therefore, it is possible that the structure of Sb 2Te 3 above 25 GPa is the same disordered bcc phase already found in Bi 2Te 3 by x-ray diffraction studies. Upon pressure release, Sb 2Te 3 reverts back to the original rhombohedral phase after considerable hysteresis. Raman- and IR-mode symmetries, frequencies, and pressure coefficients in the different phases are reported and discussed. © 2011 American Physical Society.This work has been done under financial support from Spanish MICINN under Project Nos. MAT2010-21270-C04-03/04 and CSD-2007-00045 and supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (MSM 0021627501). E. P.-G. acknowledges the financial support of the Spanish MEC under a FPI fellowship. Supercomputer time has been provided by the Red Espanola de Supercomputacion (RES) and the MALTA cluster.Gomis Hilario, O.; Vilaplana Cerda, RI.; Manjón Herrera, FJ.; Rodríguez-Hernández, P.; Pérez-González, E.; Muñoz, A.; Kucek, V.... (2011). 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