Bimetallic nanoparticles/metal-organic frameworks: Synthesis, applications and challenges

Abstract

Heterogeneous catalysis plays an important role in world economic development and has good application prospects in many industries. The major task in developing heterogeneous catalysts are fulfilling the rapid conversion of catalyzed reactions and ensuring high selectivity to target products. Recently, a novel type of composites, denoted as bimetallic nanoparticle (NP)/metal-organic framework (MOF), has attracted widespread attention in heterogeneous catalysis. The combination of bimetallic NPs with MOF materials is considered to be one of the most effective strategies to obtain enhanced catalytic activity and/or expand reaction scope. Due to synergistic effects between different components, the combined composites exhibit enhanced activity toward redox catalytic reactions, tandem reactions and photocatalytic reactions. Even though the development of bimetallic NP/MOF composites is still in its infancy, the increasing number of researches clearly indicates its huge potential in various practical applications. In this work, we systematically summarized the development of bimetallic NP/MOF composites, including their versatile fabrication strategies and their applications in various heterogeneous catalysis. The fundamental mechanisms of synergistically enhanced performance in heterogeneous catalysis were discussed in detail. Finally, the remaining challenges and prospects related to bimetallic NP/MOF for heterogeneous catalysis have been proposed.