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Understanding the nucleation and growth mechanisms of highentropy alloy (HEA) nanoparticles is crucial for developing functional nanocrystals with tailored properties. This study investigates the thermal decomposition of mixed metal salt precursors (Fe, Ni, Pt, Ir, Ru) on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) using in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) when heated to 1000 °C at both slow (20 °C min−1) and fast (103 °C s−1) heating/cooling rates. Slow heating to 1000 °C revealed the following: (1) The nanoparticles' nucleation occurred through multistage decomposition at lower temperatures (250−300 °C) than single metal salt precursors (300−450 °C). (2) Pt-dominant nanocrystals autocatalytically reduced other elements, leading to the formation of multimetallic FeNiPtIrRu nanoparticles. (3) At 1000 °C, the nanoparticles were single-phase with noble metals enriched compared to transition metals. (4) Slow cooling induced structural heterogeneity and phase segregation due to element diffusion and thermodynamic miscibility. (5) Adding polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) suppressed segregation, promoting HEA nanoparticle formation even during slow cooling by limiting atomic diffusion. Under fast heating/cooling, nanoparticles formed as a solid solution of fcc HEA, indicating kinetic control and limited atomic diffusion. The density function theory (DFT) calculations illustrate that the simultaneous presence of metal elements on rGO, as expected by the fast heating process, favors the formation of an fcc HEA structure, with strong interactions between HEA nanoparticles and rGO enhancing stability. This study provides insights into how heating rates and additives like PVP can control phase composition, chemical homogeneity, and stability, enabling the rational design of complex nanomaterials for catalytic, energy, and functional applications.
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Microwave synthesis of single-phase nanoparticles made of multi-principal element alloys
Metal nanoparticles of multi-principal element alloys (MPEA) with a single crystalline phase have been synthesized by flash heating/cooling of nanosized metals encapsulated in micelle vesicles dispersed in an oil phase (e.g., cyclohexane). Flash heating is realized by selective absorption of a microwave pulse in metals to rapidly heat metals into uniform melts. The oil phase barely absorbs microwave and maintains the low temperature, which can rapidly quench the high-temperature metal melts to enable the flash cooling process. The precursor ions of four metals, including Au, Pt, Pd, and Cu, can be simultaneously reduced by hydrazine in the aqueous solution encapsulated in the micelle vesicles. The resulting metals efficiently absorb microwave energy to locally reach a temperature high enough to melt themselves into a uniform mixture. The duration of microwave pulse is crucial to ensure the reduced metals mix uniformly, while the temperature of oil phase is still low to rapidly quench the metals and freeze the single-phase crystalline lattices in alloy nanoparticles. The microwave-enabled flash heating/cooling provides a new method to synthesize single-phase MPEA nanoparticles of many metal combinations when the appropriate water-in-oil micelle systems and the appropriate reduction reactions of metal precursors are available.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1946912
- PAR ID:
- 10314590
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Nano Research
- ISSN:
- 1998-0124
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3893-y
