Expanding the boundaries of cathodic corrosion: The effective preparation of metal, metal alloy and mixed oxides nanoparticles and their use as active electrocatalyst and photocatalyst

I will describe a single-pot and room temperature method for the preparation of single metal and solid-solution alloy nanoparticles which the constituent elements are immiscible in the bulk state at room temperature. This method is substantially more efficient than other methods for high-yield synthesis of catalysts and can therefore be applied on devices for catalysis process in energy and environmental mediation. Electrocatalitic application on fuel cell and CO2 conversion will be presented.
I will also introduce the use of the cathodic corrosion method for the facile synthesis of metal oxide nano- and microparticles with well-defined composition, crystallinity and shape. Here we demonstrate that the particle size and shape of mixed transition metal oxide semiconductor nanoparticles can be tuned by changing the synthesis conditions. This has resulted in an effective way to change the photocatalytic properties of the nanomaterials. The structure-reactivity relationship for the photocatalytic water oxidation will be presented.
I will highlight the “green” character of this synthetic method. Other benefits of the method include the suitability for scale up for industrial applications, avoiding large investments in large volume of organic solvents, heating or cleaning treatment, incurred safety and disposal issues.

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