A genomic characterization of metallic nanoparticles

TL;DR

This study introduces a method to sequence the geometrical genome of platinum nanoparticles, revealing size and shape-dependent site distributions and predicting catalytic activity and structural stability at high temperatures.

Contribution

It presents a novel geometrical genome sequencing approach for metallic nanoparticles, linking morphology to catalytic properties and thermal stability.

Findings

Site occurrence varies with size and shape.

Predicts enhanced catalysis on specific nanoparticle geometries.

Identifies temperature threshold for structural disruption.

Abstract

With a focus on platinum nanoparticles of different sizes (diameter of 1-9 nm) and shapes, we sequence their geometrical genome by recording the relative occurrence of all the non equivalent active site, classified according to the number of neighbours in their first and second coordination shell. The occurrence of sites is morphology and size dependent, with significant changes in the relative occurrence up to 9 nm. Our geometrical genome sequencing approach is immediately transferable to address the effects of the morphological polydispersivity in size-selected samples and the influence of temperature, including ionic vibrations and thermal activated processes. The proposed geometrical genome forecasts an enhancement of the catalytic reduction of molecular oxygen on stellated and anisotropic platinum twinned nanoparticles, with their shortest axes of ~2 nm, and an irreversible disruption of the Pt nanocatalyst's structure above 1000 K.