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Engineered interfaces for heterostructured intermetallic nanomaterials

Nature Synthesis volume 2, pages 749–756 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Heterostructured nanomaterials are of interest for many applications due to their unique properties, which depend on the identity of each individual component and the interface between them. However, the difficulty of controlling the synthesis of heterostructures and the interfaces between components limits their applications. Here we develop a colloidal synthetic method to prepare heterostructured intermetallic nanomaterials (iNMs) and engineer the interfaces between the individual components, based on the galvanic replacement mechanism and precisely controlled addition of precursors. Up to four distinct intermetallic phase-segregated segments could be combined in one nanoparticle. Nanometre-precision phase-segregated control along one dimension of iNMs was demonstrated by taking advantage of the layered growth pathway at the intermetallic–metal interfaces, leading to a maximum number of interfaces between different intermetallic phases. By adjusting the number of interfaces in a particle, we demonstrated systematic control of the interface-to-bulk ratio in heterostructured iNMs. This method offers great potential for preparing complex heterostructured nanomaterials with controlled interfaces, enabling the exploration of their properties and applications.

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Fig. 1: Heterostructured iNMs with varying elemental constituents.
Fig. 2: Heterostructured iNM growth mechanism.
Fig. 3: Heterostructured iNMs with structural complexity through layered growth.
Fig. 4: Heterostructured and interface iNMs with extended interface variety.

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Data availability

All data are available in the main text and the supplementary materials.

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Acknowledgements

J.Y. and W.H. acknowledge support from National Science Foundation grant CHE-2108307 and Iowa State University Trapp Award. J.Y. thanks R. Angelici for valuable discussions and suggestions on the manuscript. We thank K. Kovnir and J. Zaikina for valuable discussions and suggestions on the X-ray diffraction characterization.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Jiaqi Yu & Wenyu Huang

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA

    Yadong Yin

  3. Ames National Laboratory, Ames, IA, USA

    Wenyu Huang

Authors
  1. Jiaqi Yu
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Contributions

J.Y., Y.Y. and W.H. designed the conceptualization, methodology and visualization of this project. J.Y. performed all the experiments and drafted the original manuscript under the supervision of W.H. J.Y., Y.Y. and W.H. revised and edited the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wenyu Huang.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Peer review information

Nature Synthesis thanks Ya-Wen Zhang and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Primary Handling Editor: Alexandra Groves, in collaboration with the Nature Synthesis team.

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Extended data

Extended Data Fig. 1 Single composition NMs prepared from Sn NPs.

(a) transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image of Sn NPs. High-angle annual dark-field-scanning TEM (HAADF-STEM) energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) mapping of (b) PtSn4, (c) PdSn4, (d) RhSn4, (e) AuSn, (f) RuxSny, (g) CoxSny, (h) Ni3Sn4, and (i) Cu6Sn5. Based on high resolution STEM images, RuxSny and CoxSny nanoparticles have Ru3Sn7 and CoSn2 intermetallic phases, respectively. Color of elements: Pt-red, Pd-cyan, Rh-purple, Au-yellow, Ru-green, Co-pink, Ni-jungle green, Cu-indigo, Sn-grey.

Extended Data Fig. 2 Crystal structure analysis of heterostructured iNM.

(a) High-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) images of PtSn4-PdSn4 iNMs, (b) the corresponding fast Fourier transform (FFT) of (a); the single set of diffraction pattern from FFT indicates the small lattice mismatch between PtSn4 and PdSn4; (d) STEM image of PtSn4-AuSn iNMs, (e) showing the FFT of PtSn4-AuSn iNMs; the dual diffraction pattern from FFT indicates the different lattice structure of PtSn4 and AuSn (pink: PtSn4 pattern; yellow: AuSn pattern; brown: overlap); (c) and (f) are schematic illustrations of PtSn4-PdSn4 iNM and PtSn4-AuSn iNM, respectively. Scale bar of (a) and (d): 5 nm.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Discussion, Figs. 1–87 and Tables 1–3.

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Yu, J., Yin, Y. & Huang, W. Engineered interfaces for heterostructured intermetallic nanomaterials. Nat. Synth 2, 749–756 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44160-023-00289-4

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