Wet-chemical synthesis and applications of amorphous metal-containing nanomaterials
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In the past decades, metal-containing nanomaterials have attracted increasing interests owing to their intriguing physicochemical properties and various promising applications. Recent research has revealed that the phase of metal-containing nanomaterials could significantly affect their properties and functions. In particular, nanomaterials with amorphous phase, which possess long-range disordered atomic arrangements, and the amorphous/crystalline heterophase nanostructures comprised of both amorphous and crystalline phases, have exhibited superior performance in various applications, e.g., catalysis and energy storage. In this review, a brief overview of the recent progress on the wet-chemical synthesis and applications of amorphous and amorphous/crystalline heterophase metal-containing nanomaterials has been provided. Subsequently, on the basis of different categories of metal-containing nanomaterials, including metals, metal alloys, and metal compounds, their synthetic routes and promising applications will be highlighted. Finally, current challenges and some personal perspectives in this emerging research field will be proposed.
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Wet-chemical synthesis and applications of amorphous metal-containing nanomaterials
)
Abstract
In the past decades, metal-containing nanomaterials have attracted increasing interests owing to their intriguing physicochemical properties and various promising applications. Recent research has revealed that the phase of metal-containing nanomaterials could significantly affect their properties and functions. In particular, nanomaterials with amorphous phase, which possess long-range disordered atomic arrangements, and the amorphous/crystalline heterophase nanostructures comprised of both amorphous and crystalline phases, have exhibited superior performance in various applications, e.g., catalysis and energy storage. In this review, a brief overview of the recent progress on the wet-chemical synthesis and applications of amorphous and amorphous/crystalline heterophase metal-containing nanomaterials has been provided. Subsequently, on the basis of different categories of metal-containing nanomaterials, including metals, metal alloys, and metal compounds, their synthetic routes and promising applications will be highlighted. Finally, current challenges and some personal perspectives in this emerging research field will be proposed.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the grants (Nos. 9610478, 9680314, 7020013, and 1886921), the Start-Up Grant (No. 9380100), ITC via the Hong Kong Branch of the National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center (NPMM) from City University of Hong Kong, the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, China (No. AoE/P-701/20), and the Science Technology and Innovation Committee of Shenzhen Municipality (Nos. JCYJ20200109143412311 and SGDX2020110309300301, “Preparation of single atoms on transition metal chalcogenides for electrolytic hydrogen evolution”, CityU).
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