@article{Qi2018, 
author = {Zhiyuan Qi and Yuchen Pei and Tian Wei Goh and Zhaoyi Wang and Xinle Li and Mary Lowe and Raghu V. Maligal-Ganesh and Wenyu Huang},
title = {Conversion of confined metal@ZIF-8 structures to intermetallic nanoparticles supported on nitrogen-doped carbon for electrocatalysis},
year = {2018},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {11},
number = {6},
pages = {3469-3479},
keywords = {intermetallic compounds, cage confinement, pyrolysis, electrocatalysis, sintering resistance},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.1007/s12274-018-2016-x},
doi = {10.1007/s12274-018-2016-x},
abstract = {We report a facile strategy to synthesize intermetallic nanoparticle (iNP) electrocatalysts via one-pot pyrolysis of a zeolitic imidazolate framework, ZIF-8, encapsulating precious metal nanoparticles (NPs). ZIF-8 serves not only as precursor for N-doped carbon (NC), but also as Zn source for the formation of intermetallic or alloy NPs with the encapsulated metals. The resulting sub-4 nm PtZn iNPs embedded in NC exhibit high sintering resistance up to 1, 000 ℃. Importantly, the present methodology allows fine-tuning of both composition (e.g., PdZn and RhZn iNPs, as well as AuZn and RuZn alloy NPs) and size (2.4, 3.7, and 5.4 nm PtZn) of the as-formed bimetallic NPs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a metal-organic framework (MOF) with multiple functionalities, such as secondary metal source, carbon precursor, and size-regulating reagent, which promote the formation of iNPs. This work opens a new avenue for the synthesis of highly uniform and stable iNPs.}
}