Gas-Mediated Dynamic Structure Evolution of Bimetallic Alloy Catalysts

Bimetallic alloys are widely used as heterogeneous catalysts due to their unique physico-chemical properties for improving catalytic reactions. Typically, the structures of alloy catalysts are inherently dynamic under gas environments, which plays a crucial role in their catalytic activity, stability and selectivity. One method of enhancing the catalytic performance of bimetallic nanomaterials is, therefore, to tune or control the surface structure of the nanomaterials, and tremendous progress has been made in this area in the past decade. In this review, we primarily focus on the dynamic structure evolution of binary noble metal alloy catalysts influencing their catalytic performance during the thermal catalytic reaction. First, we summarize the advantage of binary noble metal alloy catalysts and their structure correlation with catalysis. Then, we examine how the structure of precious-metal-based alloy catalysts evolves in response to varying gas environments and the resulting structures impacts on heterogeneous catalytic activity. Further, the advanced characterizing techniques, i.e., in situ scanning/transmission electron microscopy (in situ S/TEM) and near-ambient pressure scanning tunneling microscopy (NAP-STM) are outlined for visualizing these structural evolutions. Finally, we summarize the remaining challenges and outlooks for the future in this research field and offer the potential direction of rational design catalysts with high energy-efficient and sustainable catalytic processes.