Ru Nanoframes with an fcc Structure and Enhanced Catalytic Properties

Noble-metal nanoframes are of great interest to many applications due to their unique open structures. Among various noble metals, Ru has never been made into nanoframes. In this study, we report for the first time an effective method based on seeded growth and chemical etching for the facile synthesis of Ru nanoframes with high purity. The essence of this approach is to induce the preferential growth of Ru on the corners and edges of Pd truncated octahedra as the seeds by kinetic control. The resultant Pd-Ru-core frame octahedra could be easily converted to Ru octahedral nanoframes of similar to 2 nm in thickness by selectively removing the Pd cores through chemical etching. Most importantly, in this approach the face-centered cubic (fcc) crystal structure of Pd seeds was faithfully replicated by Ru that usually takes an hcp structure. The fcc Ru nanoframes showed higher catalytic activities toward the reduction of p-nitrophenol by NaBH4 and the dehydrogenation of ammonia borane compared with hcp Ru nanowires with roughly the same thickness.