Earth-abundant Ni-Zn nanocrystals for efficient alkyne semihydrogenation catalysis

Abstract The development of catalysts that are based on earth-abundant metals remains a grand challenge. Alloy nanocrystals (NCs) form an emerging class of heterogeneous catalysts, offering the promise of small, uniform catalysts with composition-control. Here, we report the synthesis of small Ni an...

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Main Authors: Jasper Clarysse, Jordan De Jesus Silva, Yunhua Xing, Seraphine B. X. Y. Zhang, Scott R. Docherty, Nuri Yazdani, Maksym Yarema, Christophe Copéret, Vanessa Wood
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-05-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58838-8
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author Jasper Clarysse
Jordan De Jesus Silva
Yunhua Xing
Seraphine B. X. Y. Zhang
Scott R. Docherty
Nuri Yazdani
Maksym Yarema
Christophe Copéret
Vanessa Wood
author_facet Jasper Clarysse
Jordan De Jesus Silva
Yunhua Xing
Seraphine B. X. Y. Zhang
Scott R. Docherty
Nuri Yazdani
Maksym Yarema
Christophe Copéret
Vanessa Wood
author_sort Jasper Clarysse
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The development of catalysts that are based on earth-abundant metals remains a grand challenge. Alloy nanocrystals (NCs) form an emerging class of heterogeneous catalysts, offering the promise of small, uniform catalysts with composition-control. Here, we report the synthesis of small Ni and bimetallic Ni-X (X= Zn, Ga, In) NCs for alkyne semihydrogenation catalysis. We show that Ni3Zn NCs are particularly reactive and selective under mild reaction conditions and at low loadings. While bimetallic NCs are all more selective than pure Ni NCs, Ni-Zn NCs also maintain excellent reactivity compared to Ni-Ga and Ni-In alloys. Ab-initio calculations can explain the differences in reactivity, indicating that, unlike Ga and In, Zn atoms interact with the substrates. We further show that Ni3Zn NCs are robust and tolerate a broad range of substrates, which may be linked to the favorable amine-terminated surface.
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spelling doaj-art-31b82226bdaa42839af4ebde25b1d5ff2025-08-20T02:25:08ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-05-0116111110.1038/s41467-025-58838-8Earth-abundant Ni-Zn nanocrystals for efficient alkyne semihydrogenation catalysisJasper Clarysse0Jordan De Jesus Silva1Yunhua Xing2Seraphine B. X. Y. Zhang3Scott R. Docherty4Nuri Yazdani5Maksym Yarema6Christophe Copéret7Vanessa Wood8ETH Zurich, Institute for Electronics, Department of Information Technology and Electrical EngineeringETH Zurich, Department of Chemistry and Applied BiosciencesETH Zurich, Institute for Electronics, Department of Information Technology and Electrical EngineeringETH Zurich, Department of Chemistry and Applied BiosciencesETH Zurich, Department of Chemistry and Applied BiosciencesETH Zurich, Institute for Electronics, Department of Information Technology and Electrical EngineeringETH Zurich, Institute for Electronics, Department of Information Technology and Electrical EngineeringETH Zurich, Department of Chemistry and Applied BiosciencesETH Zurich, Institute for Electronics, Department of Information Technology and Electrical EngineeringAbstract The development of catalysts that are based on earth-abundant metals remains a grand challenge. Alloy nanocrystals (NCs) form an emerging class of heterogeneous catalysts, offering the promise of small, uniform catalysts with composition-control. Here, we report the synthesis of small Ni and bimetallic Ni-X (X= Zn, Ga, In) NCs for alkyne semihydrogenation catalysis. We show that Ni3Zn NCs are particularly reactive and selective under mild reaction conditions and at low loadings. While bimetallic NCs are all more selective than pure Ni NCs, Ni-Zn NCs also maintain excellent reactivity compared to Ni-Ga and Ni-In alloys. Ab-initio calculations can explain the differences in reactivity, indicating that, unlike Ga and In, Zn atoms interact with the substrates. We further show that Ni3Zn NCs are robust and tolerate a broad range of substrates, which may be linked to the favorable amine-terminated surface.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58838-8
spellingShingle Jasper Clarysse
Jordan De Jesus Silva
Yunhua Xing
Seraphine B. X. Y. Zhang
Scott R. Docherty
Nuri Yazdani
Maksym Yarema
Christophe Copéret
Vanessa Wood
Earth-abundant Ni-Zn nanocrystals for efficient alkyne semihydrogenation catalysis
Nature Communications
title Earth-abundant Ni-Zn nanocrystals for efficient alkyne semihydrogenation catalysis
title_full Earth-abundant Ni-Zn nanocrystals for efficient alkyne semihydrogenation catalysis
title_fullStr Earth-abundant Ni-Zn nanocrystals for efficient alkyne semihydrogenation catalysis
title_full_unstemmed Earth-abundant Ni-Zn nanocrystals for efficient alkyne semihydrogenation catalysis
title_short Earth-abundant Ni-Zn nanocrystals for efficient alkyne semihydrogenation catalysis
title_sort earth abundant ni zn nanocrystals for efficient alkyne semihydrogenation catalysis
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58838-8
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