Carbon-Monoxide-Assisted Synthesis of Ultrathin PtCu Alloy Nanosheets and Their Enhanced Catalysis

Ultrathin PtCu alloy nanosheets are synthesized by a facile, one-pot, templateless hydrothermal method with the use of carbon monoxide (CO) as the capping agent. Due to their unique structure and possible synergetic effect, the ultrathin nanosheets show higher catalytic activity in hydrogen evolution and hydrogenation reactions. The developed method is also expected to generate exciting opportunities in creating ultrathin nanostructures with a wide range of alloy compositions for various catalytic applications.