Preparation and catalytic activities for H2O2 decomposition of Rh/Au bimetallic nanoparticles

• Rh/Au bimetallic nanoparticles (BNPs) of 3∼5 nm in diameter were prepared.
• Activity for H2O2 decomposition of BNPs is 3.6 times higher than that of Rh NPs.
• The high activity of BNPs was caused by the existence of charged Rh atoms.
• The apparent activation energy for H2O2 decomposition over the BNPs was calculated.

PVP-protected Rh/Au bimetallic nanoparticles (BNPs) were prepared by using hydrogen sacrificial reduction method and characterized by UV–vis, XRD, FT-IR, XPS, TEM, HR-TEM and DF-STEM, the effects of composition on their particle sizes and catalytic activities for H2O2 decomposition were also studied. The as-prepared Rh/Au BNPs possessed a high catalytic activity for the H2O2 decomposition, and the activity of the Rh80Au20 BNPs with average size of 2.7 nm were about 3.6 times higher than that of Rh monometallic nanoparticles (MNPs) even the Rh MNPs possess a smaller particle size of 1.7 nm. In contrast, Au MNPs with size of 2.7 nm show no any activity. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation as well as XPS results showed that charged Rh and Au atoms formed via electronic charge transfer effects could be responsible for the high catalytic activity of the BNPs.

PVP-protected Rh/Au bimetallic nanoparticles (BNPs) were prepared by using hydrogen sacrificial reduction method, the activity of Rh80Au20 BNPs were about 3.6 times higher than that of Rh NPs.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide