Multiwalled carbon nanotubes drive the activity of metal@oxide core-shell catalysts in modular nanocomposites.
Rational nanostructure manipulation has been used to prepare nanocomposites in which multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were embedded inside mesoporous layers of oxides (TiO(2), ZrO(2), or CeO(2)), which in turn contained dispersed metal nanoparticles (Pd or Pt). We show that the MWCNTs induce the crystallization of the oxide layer at room temperature and that the mesoporous oxide shell allows the particles to be accessible for catalytic reactions. In contrast to samples prepared in the absence of MWCNTs, both the activity and the stability of core-shell catalysts is largely enhanced, resulting in nanocomposites with remarkable performance for the water-gas-shift reaction, photocatalytic reforming of methanol, and Suzuki coupling. The modular approach shown here demonstrates that high-performance catalytic materials can be obtained through the precise organization of nanoscale building blocks.
Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, INSTM, Center of Excellence for Nanostructured Materials, University of Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri 1, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
Matteo
M
Cargnello
Marek
M
Grzelczak
Benito
B
Rodríguez-González
Zois
Z
Syrgiannis
Kevin
K
Bakhmutsky
Valeria
V
La Parola
Luis M
LM
Liz-Marzán
Raymond J
RJ
Gorte
Maurizio
M
Prato
Paolo
P
Fornasiero