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Janus Nanocages of Platinum‐Group Metals and Their Use as Effective Dual‐Electrocatalysts
Author(s) -
Zhu Jiawei,
Xu Lang,
Lyu Zhiheng,
Xie Minghao,
Chen Ruhui,
Jin Wanqin,
Mavrikakis Manos,
Xia Younan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.202102275
Subject(s) - nanocages , janus , materials science , platinum group , alloy , metal , chemical engineering , platinum , nanotechnology , density functional theory , chemistry , catalysis , metallurgy , computational chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
Abstract Janus nanocages with distinctive platinum‐group metals on the outer and inner surfaces can naturally catalyze at least two different reactions. Here we report a general method based on successive deposition and then selective etching for the facile synthesis of such nanocages. We have fabricated 11 different types of Janus nanocages characterized by a uniform size and well‐defined {100} facets, together with porous, ultrathin, asymmetric walls up to 1.6 nm thick. When tested as dual‐electrocatalysts toward oxygen reduction and evolution reactions, the Janus nanocages based on Pt and Ir exhibited superior activities depending on the thickness and relative position of the metal layer. Density functional theory studies suggest that the alloy composition and surface structure of the nanocages both play important roles in enhancing the electrocatalytic activities by modulating the stability of key reaction intermediates.