Core/Shell Nanocrystals with Ordered Intermetallic Single-Atom Alloy Layers for Efficient Ammonia Synthesis

Single-atom alloys (SAAs) in which precious metal single atoms are embedded into a host metal, are an emerging class of catalytic structural motifs. Benefitting from the free-atom-like <i>d</i>-states, SAAs have been proved in theory to have the potential to break the linear scaling relations inherent to metal catalysts and improve the selectivity toward desired products. In this talk, we will discuss our recent efforts in developing a facile, direct solution-phase synthesis of Cu/CuAu core/shell NCs with tunable single-atom alloy (SAA) layers. This synthesis can be extended to other Cu/CuM (M = Pt, Pd) systems, in which M atoms are isolated in the Cu host and can be considered the highest density of single-atom sites. The density of single-sites and the number of atomic layers can be synthetically controlled. The ligand and strain effects of Cu/CuAu for electrocatalytic ammonia synthesis will also be discussed in this talk.