In situ Tracking the Constrained Reconstruction of Cu3Pd@SiO2 Nanoparticles Driven by Redox Atmospheres

• Published in: ChemCatChem 2024-08, Vol.16 (15), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Xu, Changcheng, Zhao, Qiao, Han, Shaobo, Liu, Shuang, Liu, Wei, Li, Yong, Shen, Wenjie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atmospheres; Bimetals; Constraints; Cu3Pd particle; Cu3Pd@SiO2 particle; Environmental TEM; In situ oxidation/reduction; Microstructural reconstruction; Microstructure; Nanoparticles; Oxidation; Phase separation; Scale (corrosion); Silicon dioxide; Solid solutions
• ISSN: 1867-3880; 1867-3899
• DOI: 10.1002/cctc.202400085

Endowed with flexible surface coordination and synergetic electronic status, bimetallic particles serve as promising heterogeneous catalysts as their microstructures evolved sensitively to the treatment atmospheres, whereas knowledge of dynamic manners is less. Herein, utilizing environmental transmission electron microscopy (ETEM), the reconstructions of Cu3Pd particles in oxidization/reduction atmospheres were explored at atomic scale. Specifically, bare Cu3Pd particles went through a phase separation of CuOx and PdOx during in situ oxidation, and subsequent agglomeration after H2 reduction. While protected in a silica shell, the confined Cu3Pd particles were oxidized into Cu1.5Pd0.5O2 phase after air calcination and subsequently restructured into versatile configurations during H2 reduction. Specifically, hollow Cu3Pd alloy architecture with Pd enriched layer near surface as reduced at 200 °C. Further rising 400 to 600 °C, it yielded disordered Cu3Pd alloys with slightly Pd atoms enrichment at outmost surface. The dynamical behaviors of single Cu1.5Pd0.5O2 particle during in situ reduction have been visualized in ETEM, wherein a series of deformation, elongation and rotation is involved during the hollow architecture firstly formation, and then vanished into a Cu3Pd solid solution nanoparticle. The tunable microstructures of Cu3Pd@SiO2 driven by redox atmospheres demonstrate efficient approach for precisely regulating the chemical environments of constrained bimetallic nanocatalysts. The microstructural constructions of bare Cu3Pd particle and Cu3Pd@SiO2 particle under the stimuli of oxidizing and reducing environments were in situ studied in ETEM. Distinctive confinement of porous SiO2 shell prevents phase separation in oxidization atmosphere and facilitates the formation of series of restructured Cu3Pd architectures. It offers efficient way to tailor surface microstructures of bimetallic particles via well‐controlled pretreatments in reactive atmospheres.