Highly stable, reactive and ultrapure nanoporous metallic films

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel dry plasma-based synthesis method for producing impurity-free nanoporous metallic films with high stability and catalytic activity, overcoming limitations of traditional wet dealloying techniques.

Contribution

A new dry plasma treatment approach for creating highly pure, stable nanoporous metals applicable to various metals, including non-noble ones.

Findings

Impurity-free nanoporous metallic films achieved.

Films exhibit high stability and catalytic activity.

Method applicable to multiple metals, including non-noble ones.

Abstract

Nanoporous metals possess unique properties attributed to their high surface area and interconnected nanoscale ligaments. They are mostly fabricated by wet synthetic methods involving solution-based dealloying processes whose purity is compromised by residual amounts of the less noble metal. Here, we demonstrate a novel dry synthesis method to produce nanoporous metals, which is based on the plasma treatment of metal nanoparticles formed by physical vapor deposition. Our approach is general and can be applied to many metals including non-noble ones. The resultant nanoporous metallic films are impurity-free and possess highly curved ligaments and nanopores. The metal films are remarkably robust with many catalytically active sites, which is highly promising for electrocatalytic applications.