Pd–Au–Cu Ternary Alloy Nanoparticles: Highly Tunable and Economical Nitrite Reduction CatalystsClick to copy article linkArticle link copied!
- Pranaw KunalPranaw KunalDepartment of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Welch Hall 2.204, 105 E 24th St. Stop A5300, Austin, Texas 78712-1224, United StatesMore by Pranaw Kunal
- Chenxu YanChenxu YanDepartment of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 301 E. Dean Keeton Street, Stop C1700, Austin, Texas 78712. United StatesMore by Chenxu Yan
- Hongyu GuoHongyu GuoDepartment of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Welch Hall 2.204, 105 E 24th St. Stop A5300, Austin, Texas 78712-1224, United StatesMore by Hongyu Guo
- Hao LiHao LiDepartment of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Welch Hall 2.204, 105 E 24th St. Stop A5300, Austin, Texas 78712-1224, United StatesMore by Hao Li
- Carolyn E. BradyCarolyn E. BradyDepartment of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Welch Hall 2.204, 105 E 24th St. Stop A5300, Austin, Texas 78712-1224, United StatesDepartment of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 301 E. Dean Keeton Street, Stop C1700, Austin, Texas 78712. United StatesMore by Carolyn E. Brady
- Michael DuncanMichael DuncanDepartment of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Welch Hall 2.204, 105 E 24th St. Stop A5300, Austin, Texas 78712-1224, United StatesMore by Michael Duncan
- Xun ZhanXun ZhanTexas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, 204 E. Dean Keeton St. Stop C2201, Austin, Texas 78712-1591, United StatesMore by Xun Zhan
- Charles J. Werth*Charles J. Werth*Email: [email protected]Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 301 E. Dean Keeton Street, Stop C1700, Austin, Texas 78712. United StatesMore by Charles J. Werth
- Graeme Henkelman*Graeme Henkelman*Email: [email protected]Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Welch Hall 2.204, 105 E 24th St. Stop A5300, Austin, Texas 78712-1224, United StatesTexas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, 204 E. Dean Keeton St. Stop C2201, Austin, Texas 78712-1591, United StatesMore by Graeme Henkelman
- Simon M. Humphrey*Simon M. Humphrey*Email: [email protected]Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Welch Hall 2.204, 105 E 24th St. Stop A5300, Austin, Texas 78712-1224, United StatesTexas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, 204 E. Dean Keeton St. Stop C2201, Austin, Texas 78712-1591, United StatesMore by Simon M. Humphrey
Abstract

Solid-solution ternary Pd–Au–Cu nanoparticles (NPs) with broadly tunable compositions (PdxAuyCu100–(x+y); where x = 30–70 and y = 15–35) were prepared by a microwave-assisted polyol reduction method. Commercially available Pd2+, Au3+, and Cu2+ salts were directly co-reduced by ethylene glycol and NaBH4 in a one-pot process to generate near-monodisperse ternary alloy NPs with mean sizes between 2 and 4 nm. Using the same synthetic approach, the corresponding binary alloy PdCu NPs with similar monodispersities and particle sizes were also prepared. The comparative catalytic performances of PdCu NPs and PdAuCu NPs were assessed for the aqueous-phase reduction of nitrate (NO3−) anions and were compared to previously published results for analogous binary PdAu NPs. The experimental catalytic results and theoretical studies reveal that the resulting catalytic activity of Pd surface sites are highly sensitive to the relative amounts of Au and Cu also present. We ultimately prove that the hitherto unstudied ternary PdAuCu NPs are highly active and selective as NO2– reduction catalysts and effectively utilize Cu as an economically viable dilutant metal, without sacrificing the activity or stability of industrially important and well-studied PdAu alloy catalysts. From an economic perspective, the ternary alloy nanocatalysts show superior price-to-activity ratios: the measured turnover rates of Pd63Au22Cu16 NPs (3.353 min–1 $–1) outperform not only monometallic Pd NPs (0.797 min–1 $–1) but also binary PdAu NPs and PdCu NPs of all accessible compositions.
Cited By
Smart citations by scite.ai include citation statements extracted from the full text of the citing article. The number of the statements may be higher than the number of citations provided by ACS Publications if one paper cites another multiple times or lower if scite has not yet processed some of the citing articles.
This article is cited by 9 publications.
- Ramireddy Boppella, Maryam Ahmadi, Brenden M. Arndt, Danielle R. Lustig, Mohammadreza Nazemi. Pulsed Electrolysis in Membrane Electrode Assembly Architecture for Enhanced Electrochemical Nitrate Reduction Reaction to Ammonia. ACS Catalysis 2024, 14
(23)
, 18223-18236. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.4c05225
- Kaoru Hisama, Atsushi Ishikawa, Susan Menez Aspera, Michihisa Koyama. Theoretical Catalyst Screening of Multielement Alloy Catalysts for Ammonia Synthesis Using Machine Learning Potential and Generative Artificial Intelligence. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2024, 128
(44)
, 18750-18758. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.4c04018
- Yong‐Zhi Yu, Yu Cheng, Si Cheng, Zhen‐Yu Wu. Advanced Ruthenium‐Based Electrocatalysts for NO
x
Reduction to Ammonia. Advanced Materials 2025, 37
(5)
https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202412363
- Wenye Zhong, Zhiheng Gong, Peiyan Chen, Qiwu Cao, Xueming Liu, Yan Chen, Zhang Lin. Electrochemical reduction of nitrate to ammonia: From fundamental understanding to practical applications. Chem Catalysis 2024, 4
(9)
, 101060. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.checat.2024.101060
- Jun Zhou, Didier Astruc. Recent Trends and Perspectives in Palladium Nanocatalysis: From Nanoparticles to Frameworks, Atomically Precise Nanoclusters and Single-Atom Catalysts. Journal of Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers and Materials 2024, 34
(7)
, 2903-2925. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10904-024-03037-z
- Thi Kim Cuong Phu, Won Tae Hong, Hyungu Han, Young In Song, Jong Hun Kim, Seung Hun Roh, Min-Cheol Kim, Jai Hyun Koh, Byung-Keun Oh, Jun Young Kim, Chan-Hwa Chung, Dong Hyun Lee, Jung Kyu Kim. Conformal surface intensive doping of low-valence Bi on Cu2O for highly efficient electrochemical nitrate reduction to ammonia production. Materials Today 2024, 76 , 52-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2024.05.007
- Weiwei Kang, Yuhang Wang, Lei Xin, Lin Chen, Keqi Zhao, Lujie Yu, Xiaorui Song, Ziliang Zheng, Rong Dai, Weiwei Zhang, Ruiping Zhang. Biodegradable Cascade‐Amplified Nanotheranostics for Photoacoustic‐Guided Synergistic PTT/CDT/Starvation Antitumor in the NIR‐II Window. Advanced Healthcare Materials 2024, https://doi.org/10.1002/adhm.202401459
- Yunhao Wang, Yuecheng Xiong, Mingzi Sun, Jingwen Zhou, Fengkun Hao, Qinghua Zhang, Chenliang Ye, Xixi Wang, Zhihang Xu, Qingbo Wa, Fu Liu, Xiang Meng, Juan Wang, Pengyi Lu, Yangbo Ma, Jinwen Yin, Ye Zhu, Shengqi Chu, Bolong Huang, Lin Gu, Zhanxi Fan. Controlled Synthesis of Unconventional Phase Alloy Nanobranches for Highly Selective Electrocatalytic Nitrite Reduction to Ammonia. Angewandte Chemie 2024, 136
(26)
https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202402841
- Yunhao Wang, Yuecheng Xiong, Mingzi Sun, Jingwen Zhou, Fengkun Hao, Qinghua Zhang, Chenliang Ye, Xixi Wang, Zhihang Xu, Qingbo Wa, Fu Liu, Xiang Meng, Juan Wang, Pengyi Lu, Yangbo Ma, Jinwen Yin, Ye Zhu, Shengqi Chu, Bolong Huang, Lin Gu, Zhanxi Fan. Controlled Synthesis of Unconventional Phase Alloy Nanobranches for Highly Selective Electrocatalytic Nitrite Reduction to Ammonia. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2024, 63
(26)
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202402841
Article Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.
Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.
The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated.