Glutathione-Mediated Synthesis of Yolk-Shell AuAg Nanostructures Containing a Spherical Core and Cuboctahedral Skeletons and Their Applications in Plasmonic Catalysis

Frame/skeleton-like nanostructures are of great valuein plasmoniccatalysis as a result of the synergetic structural advantages arisingfrom both maximized surface atomic exposure and efficient incidentlight absorptions. Herein, we report the size-tunable fabricationof yolk-shell AuAg nanoparticles containing a spherical coreand cuboctahedral skeletons (AuAg YSCNSs), together with the explorationof their applications for assisting the reduction of 4-nitrophenol(4-NP) under ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) light irradiation.The use of glutathione (GSH) at an appropriate amount to mediate thegalvanic replacement reaction between Au@Ag core-shell nanocubesand HAuCl4 is found to be crucial in regulating the shapeevolution. Their sizes could be readily tuned by altering the edgelengths of Au@Ag core-shell nanocubes. When working as thephotocatalyst assisting the reduction of 4-NP, the AuAg YSCNSs exhibita higher apparent rate constant under UV-vis light irradiation.The current work demonstrates the feasibility to create skeleton-likenoble metal nanocrystals with the shape largely deviated from thatof the original template via the top-down carvingstrategy by introducing non-metallic surface doping, which could bepotentially extended to other noble metals or alloys.

Automated summary

In this study, the fabrication of size-tunable AuAg yolk-shell nanoparticles with a spherical core and cuboctahedral skeletons was reported. The nanoparticles were found to assist the reduction of 4-nitrophenol under UV-vis light irradiation. The use of glutathione in mediating the shape evolution was crucial in this process. The findings demonstrate the feasibility of creating skeleton-like noble metal nanocrystals with deviated shapes from the original template.