Tiny Pd@Co core-shell nanoparticles confined inside a metal-organic framework for highly efficient catalysis.

A new strategy to pre-incorporate metal precursors followed by their in situ reduction is established to prepare tiny core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) stabilized by a metal-organic framework (MOF). The obtained Pd@Co core-shell NPs of ∼2.5 nm confined in the pores of a mesoporous MOF, MIL-101, exhibit synergistic and superior catalytic performance in hydrolytic dehydrogenation of NH3 BH3 under mild conditions compared to their monometallic and alloy counterparts as well as Pd@Co NPs located on a MOF surface.