Surfactant-free Colloidal Solutions for nano-Catalysts with enhanced properties

Project Information

CoSolCat

Grant agreement ID: 840523

DOI

10.3030/840523

Project terminated on 30 April 2022

EC signature date 27 March 2019

Start date 1 May 2020

End date 30 April 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 268 921,92

EU contribution

€ 268 921,92

Coordinated by

KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CoSolCat (Surfactant-free Colloidal Solutions for nano-Catalysts with enhanced properties)

Reporting period: 2020-05-01 to 2022-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

For various applications likes chemical synthesis, energy conversion, water/air purification or medicine, precious metal are important elements. However, precious metals are non-renewable resources and in limited supply. To make the most of every single atom of the precious metal (e.g. Pt, Ir, Pd, Au, Ag, Ru, Rh, Os), designing materials down to the atomic scale is a promising and rewarding approach. Unfortunately, designing such nanomaterials is not a trivial task. In particular, in wet chemical syntheses used worldwide, many chemicals are needed to form and stabilize nanomaterials from molecular complexes. These chemicals often derived from fossil fuels and/or are toxic. For instance, surfactants are added molecules in order to stabilize the nanomaterials and control size, shape or composition. In most cases, these surfactants typically need to be removed in order to make the surface atom fully available for applications, e.g. for optimized catalysis. This removal step add complexity, cost, are often energy intensive and typically performed with moderate success. Alternatives must be proposed.

Developing surfactant-free syntheses is challenging but extremely rewarding. It makes the synthesis process much simpler, safer and better controlled, for instance by being more reproducible by reducing the risk of being subject to the strong effects of impurities when using several chemicals. This simplicity can facilitate the transfer of knowledge on the synthesis to larger scale. It leads to catalysts with higher activity, which is highly desired to make the most of the precious metal resources. Overall, this makes surfactant-free syntheses very promising platforms to develop for both fundamental, applied and industrial research and development.

The overall objective of the CoSolCat project (Surfactant-free Colloidal Solutions for nano-Catalysts with enhanced properties) is to explore the full benefits of new surfactant-free syntheses. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic and the related limitations, 15 peer-reviewed publications were published in relation to the project and one patent application placed in summer 2021, with ongoing discussions with an industrial partner to test/benchmark the technology. I also secured a Tenure Track Assistant Professor position which is a significant step further in an academic career.

Information can be found on the general webpage: https://chem.ku.dk/ansatte/alle/?pure=en/persons/509101 since no specific website has been developed for the project.
A link to the projects on CORDIS is also made on my new research group website: http://nestresearchlab.com/The%20Team/

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

After 2 years in the project.

New concepts have been explore to develop precious metal catalysts by surfactant-free colloidal approaches.
The successful development of new surfactant-free syntheses have been achieved, In particualr, a very large experimental parameter spaced has been covered for the synthesis of gold-based nanomaterials leading to:
=> A new synthesis of surfactant-free gold nanoparticles with simple and safe chemicals at low temperature.
=> A new understanding of the formation mechanism of surfactant-free gold based nanomaterials.
=> A new synthesis of surfactant-free gold-based nanoparticles.
=> The demonstration of the aboved mentioned materials for electrocatalytic applications.
=> As a result of these breaktroughs, a patent application has been placed after a positive patentability search.

Nanoparticles with surfactant have also been produced for comparison and to show the benefits of the surfactant-free approach.
In light of the restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic a focus has also been given to other surfactant-free metal nanoparticles than gold.
Various articles have been written to illustrate, contextualize, review and present new concepts and opportunities raising from surfactant-free colloidal precious metal nanoparticles for catalysis.

This overal leads to 15 peer-reviewed publications published, 1 patent application, 1 work submitted and under review, and several others in preparation. The work and the project were advertised at 6 conferences / workshops and one Intellectual Property Fair. In relation to the patent application, ongoing discussions with an industrial partner to test/benchmark the technology are in progress.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

There are very few surfactant-free colloidal syntheses reported to date.
Any achievement towards the understanding of surfactant-free syntheses open up a range of opportunities at the fundamental level to understand how nanomaterials form.
Any small improvement in the synthesis and activity of precious metal based nanomaterials can have a strong economic impact, since precious metal are expensive but key raw materials for multiple application in catalysis, sensing, optics, medicine, energy conversion, water/air remediation.

1) The better understanding of factors influencing nanoparticle synthesis achieved will enable to ultimately rationally control the synthesis-structure-properties of nanomaterials.
2) This achivement and further research in this direction can now be made with a very simple and tractable model system. This will greatly facilitate many fundamental studies that could hardly been done to date.
3) The base work completed here focusing mainly on mono-metallic nanomaterials opens up a range of opportunities for more complex bimetallic or multi metallic nanoparticles.
4) The simple syntheses developed here lead to catalysts with higher activity than the state-of-the-art and so allow a better utilization of the critical raw materials that are precious metals.
5) The simple syntheses developed here, by relatively cost-effective approaches, together with the related fundamental findings to develop more active catalysts, transfer more directly to larger scale / the industry.

With ongoing discussion with a company to benchmark the technology, it is anticipated that the overall project will ultimately have soci-economic impact.

Overall Ideas and expected benefits of surfactant-free chemical syntheses