Nanoporous gold nanostructures : morphological design and their energy conversion applications

• Main Author: Yang, Zhe
• Other Authors: Ling Xing Yi
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Chemistry
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/74099
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Nanoporous gold (NPG) is interconnected porous gold nanostructures with high surface area, extraordinary catalytic activity and unique optical properties. The objectives of my thesis is to synthesize high-performance NPG-based functional nanostructures, investigate the relationship between the structures and their performances, and boost their performance in energy conversion applications. In chapter 2, I prepare Pt-nanoporous gold bowl (Pt-NPGB) hybrids and demonstrate the superiority of Pt-NPGB as catalysts in electro-oxidation of methanol. The d-band interaction between NPGB and Pt is studied to elucidate the origin of its excellent catalytic activity. This study is important in promoting the catalytic performance for diverse electro-chemical applications, especially in the field of energy, synthetic chemistry, and also environmental toxin degradation. In chapter 3, I prepare bowl-shaped, tube-shaped and plate-shaped NPG particles, and compared their photothermal effect. I also demonstrate the application of NPG’s strong photothermal effects by the light-controlled movement of NPG coated shape memory polymer, which can be utilized in actuator applications. The detailed controllability of NPG coated shape memory polymer movement is systematically studied in chapter 4. In chapter 5, I directly synthesize NPG-molybdenum sulfide hybrid structure by exploiting the photothermal effect to significantly increase localized temperature to initiate reduction of molybdenum sulfide precursors. The excellent catalytic activity of the obtained NPG-molybdenum sulfide hybrid in hydrogen evolution reaction is demonstrated. Lastly, chapter 6 summarizes research works in my 4-year PhD study and provides an outlook of the potential future direction in this field.