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Nitrogen‐doped graphitic carbon materials have been widely used as a catalyst support in the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). In this study, we report the role of three‐dimensionally architectured in‐situ N‐doped vertically aligned carbon nanofibers (VACNF) as a catalyst support for MOR in acidic and alkaline media. The abundant graphitic edge sites at the sidewall of N‐doped VACNF strongly anchor the deposited platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts and induce a partial electron transfer between the PGM catalysts and support. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the strong metal‐support interaction substantially increases the adsorption energy of OH, particularly near the N‐doping sites, which helps to compete and remove the adsorbed intermediate species generated during MOR. The PGM catalysts on N‐doped VACNF support exhibits CO stripping at lower potentials comparing to the commercial Vulcan carbon support and presents an enhanced electrocatalytic performance and better durability for MOR.

 

The origins of chirality and chiroptical properties in ligand‐protected gold and silver nanoparticles (NPs) are considered herein. Current conceptual models including the chiral core model, dissymmetric field model, and chiral footprint model are described as mechanisms that contribute to the understanding of chirality in these systems. Then, recent studies on thiolate‐stabilized gold NPs, phosphine‐stabilized gold NPs, multi‐ligand‐stabilized silver NPs, and DNA‐stabilized silver NPs are discussed. Insights into the origin of chiroptical properties including reasons for large Cotton effects in circular dichroism spectra are considered using both experimental and theoretical data available. Theoretical calculations using density functional theory (DFT) and time‐dependent DFT methods are found to be extremely useful for providing insights into the origin of chirality. The origin of chirality in ligand‐protected gold and silver NPs can be considered to be a complex phenomenon, arising from a combination of the three conceptual models.

 

Developments in nanotechnology have made the creation of functionalized materials with atomic precision possible. Thiolate-protected gold nanoclusters, in particular, have become the focus of study in literature as they possess high stability and have tunable structure–property relationships. In addition to adjustments in properties due to differences in size and shape, heteroatom doping has become an exciting way to tune the properties of these systems by mixing different atomic d characters from transition metal atoms. Au 24 Pt(SR) 18 clusters, notably, have shown incredible catalytic properties, but fall short in the field of photochemistry. The influence of the Pt dopant on the photoluminescence mechanism and excited state dynamics has been investigated by a few experimental groups, but the origin of the differences that arise due to doping has not been clarified thoroughly. In this paper, density functional theory methods are used to analyze the geometry, optical and photoluminescent properties of Au 24 Pt(SR) 18 in comparison with those of [Au 25 (SR) 18 ] 1− . Furthermore, as these clusters have shown slightly different geometric and optical properties for different ligands, the analysis is completed with both hydrogen and propyl ligands in order to ascertain the role of the passivating ligands.