A Hands-On Guide to the Synthesis of Bimetallic Catalysts

Dear Colleagues,

Bimetallic metal catalysts, i.e., catalysts based on alloys, represent an increasingly important class of technical materials due to their reportedly improved performance in various relevant applications. Indeed, it has long been known that the catalytic behavior of metals, from bulk to nanoscale, can strongly be modified by alloying. In addition, the catalytic performance (activity, selectivity, or stability) of the alloys often exceeds the overall performance of the monometallic constituents, which is highly appealing. Typically, this phenomenon requires a certain kind of cooperation between different components or active sites in one catalyst (synergism).

Several methods have been developed to synthesize alloys, either bare or in a supported form, for catalysis applications. These include the chemical reduction and thermal decomposition of metal salts and complexes, electrochemical methods, sonochemical syntheses, mechanical alloying, and many others. Overall, this flexibility has granted access to a wide variety of systems, vastly enriching the scope of materials potentially accessible and sensitive enough to be explored for catalysis applications. However, more efforts are required to improve the stability of such systems under practical reaction conditions—a requirement not often met by multicomponent catalysts due to their dynamic nature.

Developing new strategies is of utmost importance for the continuous improvement of catalyst manufacturing towards more cost- and energy-effective processes, preferably implying minimal environmental concern (e.g., low waste stream, no hazardous by-products, etc.). Along these lines, this Special Issue aims to establish general guidelines and highlight the latest progress in the preparation of alloy catalysts through traditional and less conventional synthesis methods. Thus, practical information concerning synthesis, characterization, and evaluation (catalysis), which is often understated, shall be reported in the interest of future researchers and present workers in the field.

Accordingly, this Special Issue intends to collect dedicated review articles and case studies, preferably tutorial articles and technical reports, concerned with the synthesis of bimetallic metal catalysts, ranging from bulk alloys to supported nanoparticles and single-atom alloys. In addition, attention shall be given to the characterization methods used to corroborate their nature, particularly their stability under practical conditions, and to evaluate them in target catalytic reactions.

Dr. Jacopo De Bellis
Dr. Bolun Wang
Dr. Alla S. Sologubenko
Dr. Alexander Gunnarson
Guest Editors

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• bimetallic catalysts
• nanoalloys
• fused catalysts
• mechanical alloying
• colloidal synthesis
• galvanic replacement
• deposition–precipitation
• atomic layer deposition