Catalyst Affected by Nanoscale Wetting, Published in Nature Communications

Bravo Garrick et al.!

July 09, 2025

In Nature Communications, Garrick et al. report how the sequence of preparing Pd₈Au₉₂/SiO₂ catalysts (depositing Au on support then overgrowing Pd, or vice versa) is affected by nanoscale wetting effects at the Au/support interface. These effects tune the average size of Pd ensembles on the nanoparticle surface, consequently directing catalytic performance at a fixed bimetallic composition. Read it here.

garrick_natcomm2024 — d2+ (in Na2PdCl4 solution) was reduced by ascorbic acid and overgrown as metallic Pd on Au NPs either a *after* or b *before* Au NP attachment to PS templating colloids. The NP-decorated raspberry colloids in a and b were then self-assembled into a colloidal crystal, infiltrated with a SiO2 sol–gel precursor, and calcined to remove the organic PS templates and alloy the NPs to yield the final c Pd–Au/SiO2 and d PdAu/SiO2 RCT catalysts, respectively.