Fabrication of catalytically active Au/Pt/Pd trimetallic nanoparticles by rapid injection of NaBH4

• PVP-protected Au/Pt/Pd trimetallic nanoparticles (TNPs) of 2.0 nm in diameter were prepared.
• The catalytic activity of TNPs is several times higher than that of Au nanoparticles.
• Negatively charged Au atoms in the TNPs were confirmed by DFT calculation.

Au/Pt/Pd trimetallic nanoparticles (TNPs) with an alloyed structure and an average diameter of about 2.0 nm were prepared via reducing the corresponding ions with rapidly injected NaBH4, and characterized by UV–vis, TEM and HR-TEM. The catalytic activity of as-prepared TNPs for the aerobic glucose oxidation is several times higher than that of Au monometallic nanoparticles with about the same average size, which could be attributed to the catalytically active sites provided by the negatively charged Au atoms as a result of the electron donation from the neighboring Pd atoms. This was well supported by the electron density calculations based on the density functional theory.

The synthesis and characterization of 2.0 nm-diameter Au/Pt/Pd nanoparticles are reported. The catalytic activity for glucose oxidation of the nanoparticles is several times higher than that of Au nanoparticles with nearly same size.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide