Solution synthesis of metal silicide nanoparticles

Joshua M. Mcenaney, Raymond Edward Schaak

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

45 Scopus citations

Abstract

Transition-metal silicides are part of an important family of intermetallic compounds, but the high-temperature reactions that are generally required to synthesize them preclude the formation of colloidal nanoparticles. Here, we show that palladium, copper, and nickel nanoparticles react with monophenylsilane in trioctylamine and squalane at 375 °C to form colloidal Pd2Si, Cu3Si, and Ni2Si nanoparticles, respectively. These metal silicide nanoparticles were screened as electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction, and Pd2Si and Ni2Si were identified as active catalysts that require overpotentials of -192 and -243 mV, respectively, to produce cathodic current densities of -10 mA cm-2.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)707-709
Number of pages3
JournalInorganic Chemistry
Volume54
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2 2015

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Inorganic Chemistry

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