Shape and composition controlled electrocatalysts of alloyed nanoparticles

Shape-controlled and nanostructured metal alloy has been the subject of active research as highly active catalysts in fuel cell, battery, and other chemical conversion systems. Since each crystallographic plane provides different surface atomic and electronic structures, the morphology of the catalyst can affect the activities greatly. Among the various methods, solution phase synthesis has the unique advantage in the control of the size and shape of metal alloy nanoparticles. One major issue of the synthetic methods is the reaction conditions used in one protocol for controlling the shape and size of a material usually have to be changed dramatically when a different particle or shape is desirable. In this presentation, I will show that by carefully controlling the growth kinetics, tailored morphology of the metal alloy nanocrystals can be readily generated. The facet-dependent electrocatalytic properties of several Pt alloy catalysts will be demonstrated.