Hollow Pt-Ni alloy nanospheres with tunable chamber structure and enhanced activity

Hollow Pt-Ni alloy nanospheres with tunable chamber size and shell thickness are prepared through a modified galvanic replacement approach. The strategy for fabricating such hollow alloys is discussed based on systematic characterization. During the liquid-phase p-chloronitrobenzene hydrogenation to p-chloroaniline, these hollow alloy materials exhibit much higher activity, greatly enhanced selectivity and better durability than the solid Pt nanoparticles. Of particular interest is the controllable shell thickness, which allows for tuning of catalytic activity.