Metal-Sensitive Functionalization and Self-Assembly of Bimetallic Nanocrystals

The Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry Program in the Chemistry Division supports Professor Dong Qin and her group at the Georgia Institute of Technology to develop tiny crystals called bimetallic nanocrystals. Their bimetallic nanocrystals contain two metals whose chemical function and spatial position within the nanocrystals are precisely controlled.

Metal nanocrystals play a vital role in enabling catalysis for energy conversion, environmental protection, and organic synthesis. Despite some success, it remains a daunting challenge to monitor the catalytic reactions in real time by spatially confining the reactants to the catalytic sites while detecting the final and intermediate products in situ.

The research team addresses this challenge by developing bimetallic nanocrystals in which one of the metals can serve as a catalyst while the other can report the ‘chemical fingerprint’ (signals associated with the reaction). The concepts, materials, and methods developed during this research may find use in a broad range of applications related to solid-state chemistry, catalysis, sensing, and photonics.

This team recruits women and minority students as well as those from community colleges and minority institutions for summer research. This effort is carried out in collaboration with the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure called the Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor.

In this research supported by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry (MSN) Program, Professor Qin’s team develops new design principles and methods to fabricate a novel class of bifunctional nanoreactors from Ag@M (M: Pt, Pd, and Rh) core-frame nanocubes via metal-selective surface functionalization and self-assembly. Specifically, molecules bearing isocyanide groups at the two ends are used to selectively bind to the M atoms on the edges of the core-frame nanocubes, serving as “clips” to bring two nanocubes face to face for the generation of a dimer.

The gap region between the two nanocubes naturally presents a well-controlled nanoreactor, in which the side faces can be orthogonally functionalized with the reactants while the M atoms not coordinated by isocyanide will serve as the catalyst. Due to a strong plasmonic coupling between the two Ag nanocubes separated by a gap of only a few nanometers, the nanoreactor offers a unique capability to monitor various types of important catalytic reactions by in situ SERS.

The model reactions include the hydrogenation of nitroaromatics for the production of thermodynamically unfavorable products such as hydroxylamine and azo compounds, as well as the bond-selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde, a catalytic reaction pivotal to the production of fragrance, agrochemical, and pharmaceutical compounds. This research not only enables real-time characterization of heterogeneous catalytic reactions but also sheds light on the rational design of new or improved catalyst materials.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.