Nanoparticle Synthesis and Catalytic Applications in Energy Conversion

Nanoparticles offer unparalleled opportunities to tailor catalytic surfaces for energy conversion processes, including fuel cells, electrolyzers and solar-driven systems. Precise control over size, composition and crystal phase is achieved through solution-phase methods, seed-mediated growth and epitaxial deposition. These strategies enable the formation of monometallic, alloy and heterophase architectures with enhanced active site density, optimised electronic structures and adjustable surface energies. In energy conversion, such materials drive key reactions—most notably the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and CO₂ reduction—by lowering activation barriers and improving selectivity. Alloying immiscible metals or stabilising metastable crystal forms introduces strain and electronic modulation that further boost catalytic activity. Integration of in situ characterisation, theoretical modelling and advanced synthetic protocols has illuminated nucleation pathways and growth kinetics, facilitating rational design. The global drive towards sustainable fuels places increasing emphasis on scalable, surfactant-free colloidal routes and electrodeposition techniques that can be translated to industrial practice. Ultimately, the convergence of crystal-phase engineering, multielement composition and surface-structure control is key to unlocking next-generation catalysts for clean energy applications.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Solution synthesis of gold nanoribbons in a previously unreported 4H hexagonal polytype revealed strong infrared plasmon absorption and provided a template for heteroepitaxial stabilisation of silver, palladium and platinum phases. This work opened new avenues for metastable crystal-phase control in noble metals. Building on this, selective chemical reduction protocols were used to tune the reduction speed of metal precursors, enabling the ambient-condition synthesis of AuRu alloy nanoparticles in either face-centred cubic or hexagonal close-packed lattices. Such control of crystal structure at fixed composition demonstrated that reduction kinetics can outweigh seed templating effects. More recently, a one-pot wet-chemical route produced heterophase gold nanorods with alternating fcc–2H–fcc segments. These nanorods exhibited unique optical properties and markedly superior electrocatalytic performance for CO₂ reduction, attributed to energetically favoured adsorption of reaction intermediates at heterophase boundaries.

Nanoparticle Synthesis and Catalytic Applications in Energy Conversion publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in nanoparticle synthesis and catalytic applications in energy conversion across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Nanoparticle: A particle with dimensions in the 1–100 nm range, offering high surface-to-volume ratios and tunable surface properties.

Colloidal synthesis: A solution-phase method for producing nanoparticles using stabilisers or surfactants to control growth and prevent aggregation.

Face-centred cubic (fcc): A crystal structure in which atoms occupy each cube corner and the centres of all cube faces, common in noble metals.

Hexagonal close-packed (hcp): A crystal lattice where atoms are arranged in closely packed hexagonal layers, offering distinct surface facets and electronic properties.

Solid-solution alloy: A homogeneous mixture of two or more metallic elements sharing a single crystal lattice, enabling continuous tuning of electronic and catalytic characteristics.

Electrocatalysis: The acceleration of electrochemical reactions at electrode surfaces by catalysts, essential for processes such as OER, HER and CO₂ reduction.

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER): The four-electron process converting water to oxygen, protons and electrons, a key half-reaction in water splitting for hydrogen production.

References

1. Stabilization of 4H hexagonal phase in gold nanoribbons. Nature Communications (2015).
2. Selective control of fcc and hcp crystal structures in Au–Ru solid-solution alloy nanoparticles. Nature Communications (2018).
3. Heterophase fcc-2H-fcc gold nanorods. Nature Communications (2020).
4. Insights Into Formation and Growth of Colloidal Multielement Alloy Nanoparticles in Solution through In Situ Liquid Cell TEM Study. Advanced Functional Materials (2024).
5. Elucidating the Role of Reduction Kinetics in the Phase-Controlled Growth on Preformed Nanocrystal Seeds: A Case Study of Ru. Journal of the American Chemical Society (2024).
6. Solid-solution alloy nanoparticles of a combination of immiscible Au and Ru with a large gap of reduction potential and their enhanced oxygen evolution reaction performance† †Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c9sc00496c. Chemical Science (2019).