Nanoparticles are being investigated as electrocatalysts for a wide variety of redox transformations. The use of preformed nanoparticles in contrast to those synthesized through electrodeposition allows for the nanoparticles to be well characterized before examining their electrocatalytic properties.  Copper has shown promise as an active catalytic material for CO<sub>2</sub> electroreduction, however, little is known about the synthesis and chemistry of preformed, small copper nanoparticles.  Hexanethiol-stabilized copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) were synthesized using a modified two-phase Brust preparation method.  Characterization with small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed these nanoparticles to be spherical with a mean core diameter of 2 nm.  X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of this material did not show a significant presence of oxidized copper on the surface.  Preliminary studies with these CuNPs dropcast onto glassy carbon electrodes suggest their ability to electrochemically reduce bicarbonate.  With the aim of linking the nanoparticles to an electrode surface, through the ligand shell of these nanoparticles, ligand exchange reactions with 2-mercaptoethylphosphonic acid (2-MEPA) were investigated.  Future work will focus on expanding the library of functional ligand shells for copper nanoparticles with the goal of covalently attaching these materials to electrode surfaces for further studies of their electrocatalytic properties.

Synthesis of small, ligand-stabilized copper nanoparticles as building blocks for electroreduction catalysts

249th National Meeting (2015)

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