Light-Enhanced Catalytic Activity of Intermetallic PdCd Nanocubes for Suzuki Coupling

Secondary non-noble metals have frequently been introduced to metal nanocrystals to modify their physicochemical properties and decrease the amount of precious metal used. However, this usually causes deactivation. Here, we synthesized intermetallic PdCd nanocubes that not only preserved the catalytic activity but also exhibited an increase in catalytic activity upon illumination. The intermetallic PdCd nanocubes, which are typically identified as the face-centered tetragonal phase, were verified to have a body-centered tetragonal phase theoretically with all exposed facets bounded by Pd atoms and the maximum number of active Pd sites in the alloyed structure. Examination of the physicochemical properties of the intermetallic PdCd nanocubes compared with those of pure Pd nanocubes in a Suzuki coupling reaction as a proof of concept revealed that the intermetallic PdCd nanocubes preserved the catalytic activity, decreased the amount of Pd metal used, and increased catalytic activity by 27% upon illumination. This increase can be attributed to an increase in the number of s-band free electrons upon doping of Cd atoms.