Controllable Synthesis of Surface Pt-Rich Bimetallic AuPt Nanocatalysts for Selective Hydrogenation Reactions

Abstract Bimetallic nanocatalysts, with efficient and controllable catalytic performance, have a promising application in chemical production. In this study, surface Pt-rich bimetallic AuPt nanoparticles with different Pt/Au ratios were prepared and tested in selective hydrogenation reactions of substituted nitroaromatics. Au nanoparticles were first prepared with n-butyllithium as a rapid reducer, which were further used as seeds in the slow growth process of Pt atoms. Because of the employed sequential reduction method and the following atom diffusion, surface Pt-rich bimetallic AuPt nanoparticles were obtained. Compared with the uniform AuPt alloy nanocatalysts synthesized by the co-reduction method with n-butyllithium as the reducer and monometallic Pt nanocatalysts, the obtained surface Pt-rich AuPt bimetallic nanocatalysts presented an enhanced catalytic selectivity or activity. The performance enhancement is assigned to the optimized Au/Pt interaction in the surface Pt-rich bimetallic nanostructures. This work demonstrates that the optimization of the stoichiometry and construction of bimetallic materials is a feasible method to synthesize controllable and efficient nanocatalysts.