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Nano Research 2023, 16(2): 3055-3062 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-5012-0
Research Article | Issue | Published: 05 November 2022

Revealing the dynamics of the alloying and segregation of Pt-Co nanoparticles via in-situ environmental transmission electron microscopy

Show Author's Information Xing Li1,2,§,  Shaobo Cheng1,§,  Yanghua He3,  Lixiang Qian4,  Dmitri Zakharov2,  Gang Wu3,  Chongxin Shan1,  Liang Zhang4( ),  Dong Su5( )
Henan Key Laboratory of Diamond Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Key Laboratory of Material Physics, School of Physics and Microelectronics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China
Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA
Center for Combustion Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

§ Xing Li and Shaobo Cheng contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
alloying, environmental transmission electron microscopy (ETEM), intermetallic catalyst, ripening, segregation dynamics
Topics:
Electron microscopyNanocatalystsStructural design
Cite this article:
Li X, Cheng S, He Y, et al. Revealing the dynamics of the alloying and segregation of Pt-Co nanoparticles via in-situ environmental transmission electron microscopy. Nano Research, 2023, 16(2): 3055-3062. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-5012-0
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Thermal treatment is a general and efficient way to synthesize intermetallic catalysts and may involve complicated physical processes. So far, the mechanisms leading to the size and composition heterogeneity, as well as the phase segregation behavior in Pt-Co nanoparticles (NPs) are still not well understood. Via in-situ environmental transmission electron microscopy, the formation dynamics and segregation behaviors of Pt-Co alloyed NPs during the thermal treatment were investigated. It is found that Pt-Co NPs on zeolitic imidazolate frameworks-67-derived nanocarbon (NC) are formed consecutively through both particle migration coalescence and the Ostwald ripening process. The existence of Pt NPs is found to affect the movement of Co NPs during their migration. With the help of theoretical calculations, the correlations between the composition and migration of the Pt and Co during the ripening process were uncovered. These complex alloying processes are revealed as key factors leading to the heterogeneity of the synthesized Pt-Co alloyed NPs. Under oxidation environment, the Pt-Co NPs become surface faceted gradually, which can be attributed to the oxygen facilitated relatively higher segregation rate of Co from the (111) surface. This work advances the fundamental understanding of design, synthesis, and durability of the Pt-based nanocatalysts.


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About this article

Revealing the dynamics of the alloying and segregation of Pt-Co nanoparticles via in-situ environmental transmission electron microscopy

Show Author's information Xing Li1,2,§, Shaobo Cheng1,§, Yanghua He3, Lixiang Qian4, Dmitri Zakharov2, Gang Wu3, Chongxin Shan1, Liang Zhang4( ), Dong Su5( )
Henan Key Laboratory of Diamond Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Key Laboratory of Material Physics, School of Physics and Microelectronics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China
Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA
Center for Combustion Energy, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

§ Xing Li and Shaobo Cheng contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Thermal treatment is a general and efficient way to synthesize intermetallic catalysts and may involve complicated physical processes. So far, the mechanisms leading to the size and composition heterogeneity, as well as the phase segregation behavior in Pt-Co nanoparticles (NPs) are still not well understood. Via in-situ environmental transmission electron microscopy, the formation dynamics and segregation behaviors of Pt-Co alloyed NPs during the thermal treatment were investigated. It is found that Pt-Co NPs on zeolitic imidazolate frameworks-67-derived nanocarbon (NC) are formed consecutively through both particle migration coalescence and the Ostwald ripening process. The existence of Pt NPs is found to affect the movement of Co NPs during their migration. With the help of theoretical calculations, the correlations between the composition and migration of the Pt and Co during the ripening process were uncovered. These complex alloying processes are revealed as key factors leading to the heterogeneity of the synthesized Pt-Co alloyed NPs. Under oxidation environment, the Pt-Co NPs become surface faceted gradually, which can be attributed to the oxygen facilitated relatively higher segregation rate of Co from the (111) surface. This work advances the fundamental understanding of design, synthesis, and durability of the Pt-based nanocatalysts.

Keywords: alloying, environmental transmission electron microscopy (ETEM), intermetallic catalyst, ripening, segregation dynamics

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 18 July 2022
Revised: 29 August 2022
Accepted: 04 September 2022
Published: 05 November 2022
Issue date: February 2023

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2022

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52072345, U21A20328, 22103047, and 12174348), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2021T140621), the Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (No. 222300420077), and Henan Center for Outstanding Overseas Scientists (No. GZS201903). D. S. acknowledges the support from Strategic Priority Research Program (B) (No. XDB33030200) of Chinese Academy of Sciences. The electron microscopy work was performed at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials, which is a US DOE Office of Science Facility, at Brookhaven National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-SC0012704.

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