A theoretical insight into enhanced catalytic activity of Au by multiple twin nanoparticles

Abstract

Recently, it has been reported that the morphology of Au nanoparticles (NPs) affects the catalytic activity of CO oxidation; twin crystal NPs show higher activity for CO oxidation than single-crystal NPs. In this study, density functional calculations have been carried out to investigate the morphology effect of Au NPs using CO as a probe molecule. In the case of Au NPs with a size of more than 2 nm, CO adsorption energy on the Au NPs is mainly determined by a coordination number (CN) of adsorption sites. CO binding to a multiple twin NP with a size of about 1 nm is stronger than that on a single-crystal NP with the same size. A simple CN explanation cannot be applied to the enhancement of CO binding to the small multiple twin NP. This enhancement is related to a deformation of the NP structure before and after CO adsorption. It is suggested that the multiple twin NP with a size of less than 1 nm, which shows the deformation upon CO adsorption, contributes to the higher activity for CO oxidation.