Platinum–copper nanoframes were produced from copper nanoparticles by a one-pot synthesis method. The growth mechanism was thoroughly studied by experiment and theoretical calculations. Owing to the unique structure, Pt-Cu nanoframes exhibited significantly enhanced catalytic activity toward the electro-oxidation of methanol compared to commercial Pt black.

It is highly challenging but desirable to develop efficient heterogeneous catalysts for C−Cl bond activation in coupling reactions. Here, we succeeded in synthesizing bimetallic Pd-Au nanoparticles through a convenient one-pot wet chemical route. The composition and alloyed structure of the as-prepared nanoparticles were fully characterized. We have evaluated the catalytic activity of these Pd-Au alloy catalysts in Buchwald–Hartwig reactions of aryl chlorides. The excellent catalytic activity of the as-obtained Pd-Au nanoparticles indicates that exploiting the catalytic power of nano-alloy catalysts could enable effective C−Cl bond activation suitable for cross-coupling reactions.

In recent years, various non-precious metal electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) have been extensively investigated. The development of an efficient and simple method to synthesize non-precious metal catalysts with ORR activity superior to that of Pt is extremely significant for large-scale applications of fuel cells. Here, we develop a facile, low-cost, and large-scale synthesis method for uniform nitrogen-doped (N-doped) bamboo-like CNTs (NBCNT) with Co nanoparticles encapsulated at the tips by annealing a mixture of cobalt acetate and melamine. The uniform NBCNT shows better ORR catalytic activity and higher stability in alkaline solutions as compared with commercial Pt/C and comparable catalytic activity to Pt/C in acidic media. NBCNTs exhibit outstanding ORR catalytic activity due to high defect density, uniform bamboo-like structure, and the synergistic effect between the Co nanoparticles and protective graphitic layers. This facile method to synthesize catalysts, which is amenable to the large-scale commercialization of fuel cells, will open a new avenue for the development of low-cost and high-performance ORR catalysts to replace Pt-based catalysts for applications in energy conversion.