Fabrication and characterization of functional metallic and mixed metal - semiconductor nanocrystal aerogels

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Alexander Eychmüller
• Subject Area: Physical Chemistry of Solids and Surfaces, Material Characterisation
• Term: from 2008 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 62604470

• Final Report Year: 2016

Final Report Abstract

Aerogels are unique solid materials with extremely low densities, high porosity, and large inner surface area. They combine the chemical and physical properties of nanomaterials with those of the macroscale and may integrate the specific properties of the various constituents in one resulting material, making aerogels very attractive in various applications such as (electro-) catalysis, thermoelectrics, and sensors. In this project we have developed new approaches to the formation of mixed aerogels based on various combinations of semiconductor and noble metal nanoparticles. The aerogels were characterized by a variety of microscopic, spectroscopic and analytical methods. Processes of energy and electronic transfer are investigated and described. For various aerogel systems, formation mechanisms are elucidated. Application potential as optical sensors, colour conversion materials and electrocatalysts is demonstrated.

Publications

• Colloidal Nanocrystal-Based Gels and Aerogels: Material Aspects and Application Perspectives. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2012, 3 (1), 8- 17
  Gaponik, N.; Herrmann, A.-K.; Eychmüller, A.
  
• High-Performance Electrocatalysis on Palladium Aerogels. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2012, 51 (23), 5743-5747
  Liu, W.; Herrmann, A.-K.; Geiger, D.; Borchardt, L.; Simon, F.; Kaskel, S.; Gaponik, N.; Eychmüller, A.
  
• Quantum-Dot-Based (Aero)gels: Control of the Optical Properties. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2012, 3 (16), 2188-2193
  Wolf, A.; Lesnyak, V.; Gaponik, N.; Eychmüller, A.
  
• Bimetallic aerogels: high-performance electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2013, 52 (37), 9849-9852
  Liu, W.; Rodriguez, P.; Borchardt, L.; Foelske, A.; Yuan, J.; Herrmann, A.-K.; Geiger, D.; Zheng, Z.; Kaskel, S.; Gaponik, N.; Koetz, R.; Schmidt, T. J.; Eychmüller, A.
  
• Mixed Aerogels from Au and CdTe Nanoparticles. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2013, 23 (15), 1903-1911
  Hendel, T.; Lesnyak, V.; Kühn, L.; Herrmann, A.-K.; Bigall, N. C.; Borchardt, L.; Kaskel, S.; Gaponik, N.; Eychmüller, A.
  
• Multimetallic Aerogels by Template-Free Self-Assembly of Au, Ag, Pt, and Pd Nanoparticles. Chem. Mater. 2014, 26 (2), 1074-1083
  Herrmann, A.-K.; Formanek, P.; Borchardt, L.; Klose, M.; Giebeler, L.; Eckert, J.; Kaskel, S.; Gaponik, N.; Eychmüller, A.
  
• 3D assembly of silica encapsulated semiconductor nanocrystals. Nanoscale 2015, 7 (29), 12713-12721
  Rengers, C.; Voitekhovich, S. V.; Kittler, S.; Wolf, A.; Adam, M.; Gaponik, N.; Kaskel, S.; Eychmueller, A.
  
• Noble Metal Aerogels-Synthesis, Characterization, and Application as Electrocatalysts. Acc. Chem. Res. 2015, 48 (2), 154-162
  Liu, W.; Herrmann, A.-K.; Bigall, N. C.; Rodriguez, P.; Wen, D.; Oezaslan, M.; Schmidt, T. J.; Gaponik, N.; Eychmueller, A.
  
• Gold Aerogels: Three-Dimensional Assembly of Nanoparticles and Their Use as Electrocatalytic Interfaces. ACS Nano 2016, 10 (2), 2559-2567
  Wen, D.; Liu, W.; Haubold, D.; Zhu, C.; Oschatz, M.; Holzschuh, M.; Wolf, A.; Simon, F.; Kaskel, S.; Eychmüller, A.