Imaging the kinetics of anisotropic dissolution of bimetallic core–shell nanocubes using graphene liquid cells

Chen L, Leonardi A, Chen J, Cao M, Li N, Su D, Zhang Q, Engel M, Ye X (2020)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

Nature Communications Nature Publishing Group: Nature Communications

Book Volume: 11

Article Number: 3041

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16645-3

Abstract

Chemical design of multicomponent nanocrystals requires atomic-level understanding of reaction kinetics. Here, we apply single-particle imaging coupled with atomistic simulation to study reaction pathways and rates of Pd@Au and Cu@Au core-shell nanocubes undergoing oxidative dissolution. Quantitative analysis of etching kinetics using in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging reveals that the dissolution mechanism changes from predominantly edge-selective to layer-by-layer removal of Au atoms as the reaction progresses. Dissolution of the Au shell slows down when both metals are exposed, which we attribute to galvanic corrosion protection. Morphological transformations are determined by intrinsic anisotropy due to coordination-number-dependent atom removal rates and extrinsic anisotropy induced by the graphene window. Our work demonstrates that bimetallic core-shell nanocrystals are excellent probes for the local physicochemical conditions inside TEM liquid cells. Furthermore, single-particle TEM imaging and atomistic simulation of reaction trajectories can inform future design strategies for compositionally and architecturally sophisticated nanocrystals.

Authors with CRIS profile

Alberto Leonardi Lehrstuhl für Multiscale Simulation of Particulate Systems Michael Engel Lehrstuhl für Multiscale Simulation of Particulate Systems

Involved external institutions

Soochow University, Suzhou / 苏州大学 CN China (CN) Indiana University US United States (USA) (US) Brookhaven National Laboratory US United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

Chen, L., Leonardi, A., Chen, J., Cao, M., Li, N., Su, D.,... Ye, X. (2020). Imaging the kinetics of anisotropic dissolution of bimetallic core–shell nanocubes using graphene liquid cells. Nature Communications, 11(1). https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16645-3

MLA:

Chen, Lei, et al. "Imaging the kinetics of anisotropic dissolution of bimetallic core–shell nanocubes using graphene liquid cells." Nature Communications 11.1 (2020).

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