Selective Epitaxial Growth of Rh Nanorods on 2H/fcc Heterophase Au Nanosheets to Form 1D/2D Rh-Au Heterostructures for Highly Efficient Hydrogen Evolution

Phase engineering of nanomaterials (PEN) enables the preparation of metal nanomaterials with unconventional phases that are different from their thermodynamically stable counterparts. These unconventional-phase nanomaterials can serve as templates to construct precisely controlled metallic heterostructures for wide applications. Nevertheless, how the unconventional phase of templates affects the nucleation and growth of secondary metals still requires systematic explorations. Here, two-dimensional (2D) square-like Au nanosheets with an unconventional 2H/face-centered cubic (fcc) heterophase, composing of two pairs of opposite edges with 2H/fcc heterophase and fcc phase, respectively, and two 2H/fcc heterophase basal planes, are prepared and then used as templates to grow one-dimensional (1D) Rh nanorods. The effect of different phases in different regions of the Au templates on the overgrowth of Rh nanorods has been systematically investigated. By tuning the reaction conditions, three types of ID/2D Rh-Au heterostructures are prepared. In the type A heterostructure, Rh nanorods only grow on the fcc defects including stacking faults and/or twin boundaries (denoted as fcc-SF/T) and 2H phases in two 2H/fcc edges of the Au nanosheet. In the type B heterostructure, Rh nanorods grow on the fcc-SF/T and 2H phases in two 2H/fcc edges and two 2H/fcc basal planes of the Au nanosheet. In the type C heterostructure, Rh nanorods grow on four edges and two basal planes of the Au nanosheet. Furthermore, the type C heterostructure shows promising performance toward the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic media, which is among the best reported Rh-based and other noble-metal-based HER electrocatalysts.

Automated summary

Phase engineering of nanomaterials allows the preparation of metal nanomaterials with unconventional phases as templates for constructing controlled metallic heterostructures. The study investigates how different regions of Au templates with unconventional phase affect the overgrowth of Rh nanorods, resulting in the preparation of three types of Rh-Au heterostructures by tuning reaction conditions. The type C heterostructure exhibits promising performance in the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction, making it one of the best reported HER electrocatalysts based on Rh and other noble metals.