Gas Phase Synthesis of Multi-Element Nanoparticles

Abstract

The advantages of gas-phase synthesis of nanoparticles in terms of size control and flexibility in choice of materials is well known. There is increasing interest in synthesizing multi-element nanoparticles in order to optimize their performance in specific applications, and here, the flexibility of material choice is a key advantage. Mixtures of almost any solid materials can be manufactured and in the case of core–shell particles, there is independent control over core size and shell thickness. This review presents different methods of producing multi-element nanoparticles, including the use of multiple targets, alloy targets and in-line deposition methods to coat pre-formed cores. It also discusses the factors that produce alloy, core–shell or Janus morphologies and what is possible or not to synthesize. Some applications of multi-element nanoparticles in medicine will be described.

A Review on 1‐D Nanomaterials: Scaling‐Up with Gas‐Phase Synthesis

“…[58] Paradoxically, there is an enhanced ability to access certain compositions from the lower likelihood of being mass-transfer limited in the overall process compared to the liquid-phase. [59,60] More rapid growth rates also tend to introduce a greater degree of defects, which can be beneficial for certain applications (e. g., catalysts, membranes). [61] A final drying step is furthermore obviated with the gas-phase approach, including the use of supercritical fluids.…”

“…Such thermodynamically more stable species inherently possess simpler chemistry, and thereby limit the compositional possibilities [58] . Paradoxically, there is an enhanced ability to access certain compositions from the lower likelihood of being mass‐transfer limited in the overall process compared to the liquid‐phase [59,60] . More rapid growth rates also tend to introduce a greater degree of defects, which can be beneficial for certain applications (e. g., catalysts, membranes) [61] .…”

Gas-phase synthesis of nanoparticles: current application challenges and instrumentation development responses

“…To manifest its coming-of-age, a subject-based textbook was published in 2017, with contributions by some of the pioneers and main current key players in the field. 5 Two recent reviews on the subject, one by an author of the current perspective 6 and one by the group at Castilla la Mancha 7 focused on the growth of multi-elemental nanoparticles from a computational and an experimental viewpoint, respectively. Another two reviews by the Swansea group 8 and Teer Coatings, 9 on the other hand, focused on the technique's potential for catalysis and sensing applications.…”

The electrocatalytic N2 reduction activity of core–shell iron nanoalloy catalysts: a density functional theory (DFT) study

“…[15][16][17] Therefore, attempts have been made to accelerate the activity and product selectivity of well-known iron based catalysts, resulting in important outcomes, including iron based binary alloy nanoparticles, supported Fe monolayers, Fe nanoclusters (Fe-NC), and core-shell structure of a-Fe@Fe 2 O 3 nanorods. 7,[18][19][20][21][22] Suryanto et al experimentally demonstrated that the NRR activity was profoundly increased on a-Fe nanorods, resulting from enhancing the surface area and increasing the N 2 solubility. 7 An alloyed catalyst comprising Fe and Ni was studied by Renner et al for the electrochemical NRR, and it was reported that the catalyst had an optimum activity with a high faradaic efficiency (FE).…”

“…In contrast, a smaller size dodecahedral NC with fewer atoms can provide a well-defined (110) facet compared to the reported octahedral structure. 18 Therefore, it is reasonable to model a dodecahedral Fe 65 NC in terms of computational costs and catalytic activity. Furthermore, core–shell nanoparticles are widely recognized as potential catalysts for various catalytic applications with high efficiency.…”