Noble metal

About: Noble metal is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 15113 publications have been published within this topic receiving 337947 citations.

Recent strategies targeting efficient hydrogen production from chemical hydrogen storage materials over carbon-supported catalysts

Abstract: There is an evident urgent need to find a renewable and clean energy vector to ensure the worldwide energy supply while minimizing environmental impacts, and hydrogen stands out as a promising alternative energy carrier. The social concern around its safe storage is constantly fostering the search for alternative options to conventional storage methods and, in this context, chemical hydrogen storage materials have produced abundant investigations with particular attention to the design of heterogeneous catalysts that can boost the generation of molecular hydrogen. Among the chemical hydrogen storage materials, formic acid and ammonia–borane hold tremendous promise, and some of the recent strategies considered for the preparation of high-performance carbon-supported catalysts are summarized in this review. The outstanding features of carbon materials and their versatility combined with the tunability of the metal active phase properties (e.g., morphology, composition, and electronic features) provide numerous options for the design of promising catalysts. Precise control over the size and composition of metal nanoparticles is critical to the safe production of hydrogen from chemical storage systems. Kohsuke Mori and Hiromi Yamashita from Osaka University in Japan and colleagues review recent progress in producing hydrogen gas for fuel cell technology from the energy-rich molecules formic acid and ammonia borane. By immobilizing nanosized metal catalysts onto carbon-based supports with shapes including ultrasmall spheres, nanotubes, and graphene oxide sheets, researchers can tune hydrogen generation rates to record-high levels while still ensuring easy recovery and reuse. Catalytic reactions with formic acid can be improved by using noble metal-based palladium catalysts. While ruthenium nanocatalysts are favored for ammonia borane reactions, less expensive metal nickel and cobalt nanoparticles are gaining attention. This review recapitulates some of the most representative studies recently reported on carbon-supported catalysts for the hydrogen production from formic acid and ammonia borane by considering both active phase features and support properties. Several synthetic strategies are herein summarized to highlight the versatility of carbon materials in affording highly-performing catalysts for the hydrogen production from hydrogen carrier molecules.

Monodispersed Pd-Ni nanoparticles: composition control synthesis and catalytic properties in the Miyaura-Suzuki reaction.

Abstract: We have successfully prepared a series of magnetically separable “quasi-homogeneous” Pd−Ni nanoalloy catalysts with tunable composition in a one-pot wet chemical route. We have evaluated the catalytic activity of these Pd−Ni alloy catalysts with different compositions through the Miyaura−Suzuki coupling reaction. These palladium/non-noble metal alloy catalysts show better catalytic activity than an equal amount of palladium nanoparticles. Furthermore, these catalysts exhibited excellent performance in superparamagnetism owing to its great advantage for reducing the usage of noble metal.

A study of the photocatalytic oxidation of formaldehyde on Pt/Fe2O3/TiO2☆

Abstract: Preparation of TiO2 photocatalysts loaded with noble metal or transition-metal oxide and the influences of preparing procedures on the photocatalytic activity for degradation of formaldehyde are reported The products and intermediates in the photocatalytic oxidation of formaldehyde were detected, and a reasonable mechanism of reaction was suggested

Noble metal-free Bi nanoparticles supported on TiO2 with plasmon-enhanced visible light photocatalytic air purification

Abstract: Semimetal bismuth (Bi) is an emerging non-noble metal-based plasmonic metal, which has demonstrated exceptional behavior as a unique plasmonic photocatalyst/cocatalyst. In the present work, Bi nanoparticles were uniformly deposited on the well-known TiO2 particles (Degussa, P25) with mixed phases of anatase and rutile by a facile eco-friendly synthesis at room temperature. The Bi-deposited TiO2 nanocomposites demonstrated highly enhanced photocatalytic performance for removal of ppb-level NO in air under visible-light irradiation (λ > 420 nm). The improved photocatalytic capability was found to be crucially dependent on the catalyst architecture: Bi nanoparticles with a diameter (dBi) of 5–8 nm deposited on the surface of TiO2 particles acted as active sites for visible-light-driven electron and hole separation. The enhanced charge separation was well supported by photoluminescence, photocurrent generation and Bode-phase spectra. Significantly, the exceptionally high visible-light photocatalytic capability of the optimized Bi–Ti-50 sample (the mass ratio of Bi to TiO2 is 50%) was also superior to that of universally known non-metal-doped TiO2. The photocatalysis was enhanced through SPR-mediated activation of the Bi particles by visible light followed by consecutive electron transfer in Bi/rutile/anatase interfaces, as supported by the action spectra. The electrons produced from the plasmonic activation of Bi particles could transfer to the conduction band of rutile and then to adjacent anatase TiO2 because of the high potential difference between Bi and rutile TiO2. Also, the free electrons could transfer from Bi to the conduction band of anatase and then to rutile TiO2 owing to the high mass ratio of anatase phase in P25 resulting in the direct contact of the Bi nanoparticles and anatase TiO2. A new photocatalysis mechanism of Bi-deposited TiO2 nanocomposites was proposed on the basis of active species trapping. The catalyst architecture elucidated here for promoted plasmonic photocatalysis would be beneficial for the design and development of more effective visible-light-driven photocatalysts for environmental remediation and could open a new avenue for utilization of low-cost Bi nanoparticles as a substitute for noble metals to promote the utilization efficiency of solar energy.

In Situ Monitoring of Electrooxidation Processes at Gold Single Crystal Surfaces Using Shell-Isolated Nanoparticle-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Abstract: Identifying the intermediate species in an electrocatalytic reaction can provide a great opportunity to understand the reaction mechanism and fabricate a better catalyst. However, the direct observation of intermediate species at a single crystal surface is a daunting challenge for spectroscopic techniques. In this work, electrochemical shell-isolated nanoparticle-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (EC-SHINERS) is utilized to in situ monitor the electrooxidation processes at atomically flat Au(hkl) single crystal electrode surfaces. We systematically explored the effects of crystallographic orientation, pH value, and anion on electrochemical behavior of intermediate (AuOH/AuO) species. The experimental results are well correlated with our periodic density functional theory calculations and corroborate the long-standing speculation based on theoretical calculations in previous electrochemical studies. The presented in situ electrochemical SHINERS technique offers a unique way for a real-time investigation of an electrocatalytic reaction pathway at various well-defined noble metal surfaces.