Preparation of freestanding palladium nanosheets modified with gold nanoparticles at edges

Electronic adjustment is one of the most commonly used strategies to improve the catalytic performance of heterogeneous catalysts. We prepared hexagonal ultrathin Pd nanosheets with edges modified by gold nanoparticles (Au@Pd nanosheets) using galvanic replacement method. By virtue of the electronic interactions between the Pd nanosheets and Au nanoparticles, the Au@Pd nanosheets exhibited excellent catalytic performances in the carbonylation of iodobenzene by carbon monoxide. The novel nanocomposites could be applied as model catalysts to explore electronic effects in catalysis.