title: Synthesis, characterization, and growth simulations of Cu-Pt bimetallic nanoclusters.
abstract: Highly monodispersed Cu-Pt bimetallic nanoclusters were synthesized by a facile synthesis approach. Analysis of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and spherical aberration (C s)-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images shows that the average diameter of the Cu-Pt nanoclusters is 3.0 ± 1.0 nm. The high angle annular dark field (HAADF-STEM) images, intensity profiles, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) line scans, allowed us to study the distribution of Cu and Pt with atomistic resolution, finding that Pt is embedded randomly in the Cu lattice. A novel simulation method is applied to study the growth mechanism, which shows the formation of alloy structures in good agreement with the experimental evidence. The findings give insight into the formation mechanism of the nanosized Cu-Pt bimetallic catalysts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, 78249, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Subarna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khanal
authors.affiliation: INFIQC, CONICET, Departamento de Matemática y Física, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, (XUA5000) Córdoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spitale
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, 78249, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Nabraj
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bhattarai
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, 78249, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bahena
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, 78249, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: J Jesus
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Velazquez-Salazar
authors.affiliation: Center for Innovation and Research in Engineering and Technology, and CICFIM-Facultad de Ciencias Físico-Matemáticas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, San Nicolás de los Garza, NL 66450, México.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mejía-Rosales
authors.affiliation: INFIQC, CONICET, Departamento de Matemática y Física, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, (XUA5000) Córdoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: M Mariscal
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, 78249, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: José-Yacaman
keywords: Cu–Pt clusters; energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX); grand-canonical Langevin dynamics; nanoalloys; scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM)