Strong metal-support interaction in size-controlled monodisperse palladium-hematite nano-heterostructures during a liquid-solid heterogeneous catalysis

Metal-semiconductor nanoheterostructure (NHS) exhibits fascinating catalytic performance due to the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI). SMSI in liquid-solid heterogeneous catalysis based on NHS was rarely investigated as compared to the gas-solid counterpart. Two issues, namely, the wet-chemical preparation of monodisperse model catalyst and in-situ characterization on the electronic structure, are challenging and studied here. The size of the metal catalyst was finely tuned in a Pd-Fe2O3 NHS and electrochemical test revealed that the electronic states differ significantly in liquid environment from in vacuum. The combined amendments resulted in a more reliable conclusion on the SMSI in Suzuki coupling. This study might give some clues on the illusive in-liquid structure-property relationships.