Xue Geng, Li Yueqi, Du Ran, Wang Jinying, Hübner René, Gao Meng, Hu Yue
Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials of Zhejiang Province, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325000, P. R. China.
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of High Energy Density Materials of the Ministry of Education, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, P. R. China.
Small. 2023 Aug;19(35):e2301288. doi: 10.1002/smll.202301288. Epub 2023 May 13.
Metal aerogels (MAs) are emerging porous materials displaying unprecedented potential in catalysis, sensing, plasmonic technologies, etc. However, the lack of efficient regulation of their nano-building blocks (NBBs) remains a big hurdle that hampers the in-depth investigation and performance enhancement. Here, by harmonizing composition and ligand effects, Pt- and Bi-based single- and bimetallic aerogels bearing NBBs of controlled dimensions and shapes are obtained by facilely tuning the metal precursors and the applied ligands. Particularly, by further modulating the electronic and optic properties of the aerogels via adjusting the content of the catalytically active Pt component and the semiconducting Bi component, both the electrocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic performance of the Pt-Bi aerogels can be manipulated. In this light, an impressive catalytic performance for electro-oxidation of methanol is acquired, marking a mass activity of 6.4-fold higher under UV irradiation than that for commercial Pt/C. This study not only sheds light on in situ manipulating NBBs of MAs, but also puts forward guidelines for crafting high-performance MAs-based electrocatalysts and photoelectrocatalysts toward energy-related electrochemical processes.
金属气凝胶（MAs）是新兴的多孔材料，在催化、传感、等离子体技术等领域展现出前所未有的潜力。然而，缺乏对其纳米结构单元（NBBs）的有效调控仍然是一个巨大障碍，阻碍了深入研究和性能提升。在此，通过协调组成和配体效应，通过轻松调节金属前驱体和所应用的配体，获得了具有可控尺寸和形状的NBBs的基于Pt和Bi的单金属和双金属气凝胶。特别地，通过调节催化活性Pt组分和半导体Bi组分的含量进一步调控气凝胶的电子和光学性质，Pt-Bi气凝胶的电催化和光电催化性能均可得到调控。据此，获得了令人印象深刻的甲醇电氧化催化性能，在紫外线照射下的质量活性比商业Pt/C高6.4倍。本研究不仅揭示了原位操控MAs的NBBs的方法，还为制备用于与能源相关的电化学过程的高性能基于MAs的电催化剂和光电催化剂提出了指导原则。
