sophiecarenco

A miniature reaction cell with transparent X-ray windows and laser heating of the sample has been designed to conduct X-ray absorption spectroscopy studies of materials in the presence of gases at atmospheric pressures. Heating by laser solves the problems associated with the presence of reactive gases.. The excellent operation of the cell is demonstrated with examples of CO and H₂ Fischer– Tropsch reactions on Co nanoparticles.

C. Escudero, P. Jiang, E. Pach, F. Borondics, M. W. West, A. Tuxen, M. Chintapalli, S. Carenco, J. Guo, M. Salmeron, J. Synchrotron Radiat. 2013, 20, 504.

Adsorption and dissociation of carbon monoxide molecules on cobalt nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 4 to 15 nm was studied. The majority of CO molecules adsorb molecularly on the surface of the nanoparticles, but some undergo dissociative adsorption, leading to oxide species on the surface of the nanoparticles. CO molecules dissociate much more efficiently on the larger nanoparticles (15 nm) than on the smaller particles (4 nm). Moreover, the CO dissociation on cobalt nanoparticles is assisted by hydrogen.

A. Tuxen, S. Carenco, M. Chintapalli, C.-H. Chuang, C. Escudero, E. Pach, P. Jiang, F. Borondics, B. Beberwyck, A. P. Alivisatos, G. Thornton, W.-F. Pong, J. Guo, R. Perez, F. Besenbacher, M. Salmeron, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 2273.

In this extensive review, we discuss about the synthesis, properties and applications of metal phosphide and metal borides nanoparticles. We show the similarities between these two classes of compounds. We comment on the trends of the field as well as on the latest advances.

S. Carenco, D. Portehault, C. Boissière, N. Mézailles, C. Sanchez, Chem. Rev. 2013, 113, 7981

The monodeprotonation of [CH₂(PPh₂→BH₃)(PPh₂=E)] (E = S, O) afforded [CH(PPh₂→BH₃)(PPh₂=E)], whose structures were confirmed by X-ray crystallography. The kinetics of the second deprotonation appeared to be crucial in efficient synthesis of the corresponding dianions. The rare monomeric Mg carbene compound MgC(PPh₂→BH₃)(PPh₂=S)] was then obtained.

H. Heuclin, M. Fustier-Boutignon, S. Y.-F. Ho, X.-F. Le Goff, S. Carenco, C. So, N. Mézailles, X.-F. Le Goff, S. Carenco, C. So, N. Mézailles, Organometallics 2013, 32, 498.

Gold phosphide (Au₂P₃) is known as a crystalline metastable phase at the macroscale. Here, white phosphorus (P₄) is used as a soluble phosphorus donor and reacted on 16 nm gold nanoparticles.the formation of composite Au₂P₃-Au nanostructures is observed, where the gold phosphide domains are systematically larger than the unreacted gold nanoparticles. This suggests that gold is particularly reluctant to form gold phosphide, which relates to the metastable character of this phase.

S. Carenco, I. Florea, O. Ersen, C. Boissière, N. Mézailles, C. Sanchez, New J. Chem. 2013, 37, 1231.

The structure and composition of core–shell CuCo nanoparticles were found to change as a result of cleaning pretreatments and when exposed to syngas. The original core–shell structure was found to change to a hollow CuCo alloy after pretreatment by oxidation in pure O₂ and reduction in pure H₂. This study suggests that Co and Cu can each individually contribute to syngas conversion with CuCo catalysts.

S. Carenco, A. Tuxen, M. Chintapalli, E. Pach, C. Escudero, T. D. Ewers, P. Jiang, F. Borondics, G. Thornton, A. P. Alivisatos, H. Bluhm, J. Guo, M. Salmeron, J. Phys. Chem. C 2013, 117, 6259.

Stoichiometric reactions of Pd(0) nanoparticles with various amounts of white phosphorus are an efficient route to convert them into the corresponding Pd phosphides. Formation of crystallized palladium phosphide nanoparticles is a two-step process from amorphous Pd-P nanoparticles (formed in a first step at moderate temperature) to crystallization (at higher temperature). The second temperature was found to be strongly dependent on the Pd/P ratio.

S. Carenco, Y. Hu, I. Florea, O. Ersen, C. Boissière, C. Sanchez, N. Mézailles, Dalt. Trans. 2013, 42, 12667.