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Wet-chemical synthesis and applications of amorphous metal-containing nanomaterials

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Abstract

In the past decades, metal-containing nanomaterials have attracted increasing interests owing to their intriguing physicochemical properties and various promising applications. Recent research has revealed that the phase of metal-containing nanomaterials could significantly affect their properties and functions. In particular, nanomaterials with amorphous phase, which possess long-range disordered atomic arrangements, and the amorphous/crystalline heterophase nanostructures comprised of both amorphous and crystalline phases, have exhibited superior performance in various applications, e.g., catalysis and energy storage. In this review, a brief overview of the recent progress on the wet-chemical synthesis and applications of amorphous and amorphous/crystalline heterophase metal-containing nanomaterials has been provided. Subsequently, on the basis of different categories of metal-containing nanomaterials, including metals, metal alloys, and metal compounds, their synthetic routes and promising applications will be highlighted. Finally, current challenges and some personal perspectives in this emerging research field will be proposed.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the grants (Nos. 9610478, 9680314, 7020013, and 1886921), the Start-Up Grant (No. 9380100), ITC via the Hong Kong Branch of the National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center (NPMM) from City University of Hong Kong, the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, China (No. AoE/P-701/20), and the Science Technology and Innovation Committee of Shenzhen Municipality (Nos. JCYJ20200109143412311 and SGDX2020110309300301, “Preparation of single atoms on transition metal chalcogenides for electrolytic hydrogen evolution”, CityU).

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  1. **zhe Liang, Yiyao Ge, and Zhen He contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    **zhe Liang, Yiyao Ge, Zhen He, Qinbai Yun, Guigao Liu, Shiyao Lu, Li Zhai, Biao Huang & Hua Zhang

  2. Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center (NPMM), City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Zhen He, Li Zhai, Biao Huang & Hua Zhang

  3. Shenzhen Research Institute, City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, 518057, China

    Hua Zhang

  4. National Special Superfine Powder Engineering Research Center, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nan**g University of Science and Technology, Nan**g, 210094, China

    Guigao Liu

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Liang, J., Ge, Y., He, Z. et al. Wet-chemical synthesis and applications of amorphous metal-containing nanomaterials. Nano Res. 16, 4289–4309 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-4007-6

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