Supported metal nanoparticles are of wide scientific and technological interest. In electrocatalysis, wet chemistry methods are commonly used to synthesize metal nanoparticles, which may be then deposited onto carbon materials with addition of binders (ionomers) to produce so-called catalyst “inks”. While practical for manufacturing electrodes for electrolyzers, catalyst inks feature complex, often undefined, structure, morphology, chemical composition, and mass transport properties [1]. This can make it challenging to assess the catalyst intrinsic activity and decouple it from, e.g., non-kinetic factors.

In this framework, solid-state dewetting [2,3], i.e., the heat-induced agglomeration of thin metal films under controlled conditions, can be a powerful nanofabrication tool for supported metal nanoparticles. My talk showcases the use of solid-state dewetting to produce model, binder-free, nanoparticle electrodes with minimized chemical and material complexity, i.e., featuring defined nanoparticle loading, size, structure, and composition [4]. I discuss the use of dewetted nanoparticle electrodes to study nanoscale effects such as metal/support interactions [5], and the role of catalyst exposed facets [6] and lattice strain, in model electrocatalytic reactions.

[1] A.R. Akbashev, ACS Catal. 2022, 12, 8, 4296

[2] C.V. Thompson, Annu. Rev. Mater. Res. 2012, 42, 399

[3] Altomare et al., Chem. Sci. 2016, 7, 6865

[4] Harsha et al., 2023 Meet. Abstr. MA2023-02 2779

[5] Harsha et al., Adv. Funct. Mater. 2024, 2403628

[6] Sharma et al., 2023 Meet. Abstr. MA2023-02 2059

Dr. Marco Altomare is Associate Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering and MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology at the University of Twente, Netherlands. Before joining the University of Twente, he obtained BSc, MSc and PhD degrees from the University of Milan, Italy, after which he was postdoctoral researcher and Habilitation candidate at the FAU University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. The research of his group bridges nanotechnology and materials chemistry at the nanoscale with heterogeneous catalysis for the sustainable production of fuels and chemicals. His work deals with physical vapor deposition and solid-state dewetting methods to design defined nanostructured catalysts, such as model thin film and nanoparticle systems. He combines this with in-situ (synchrotron) characterization techniques, to elucidate structure-performance relationships and investigate the active sites’ nature and catalyst stability in electrocatalytic and photocatalytic reactions.