Chemical Research in Chinese Universities ›› 2025, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (3): 370-413.doi: 10.1007/s40242-025-5055-3

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Phase Engineering of Nanomaterials: Metal Nanomaterials

CHEN Ye1,2, LIU Jiawei3, YUN Qinbai3, CHENG Hongfei4, CUI Xiaoya5,6, FAN Zhanxi7,2,8,9, FU Lei10,11, GAO Chuanbo12, GE Jingjie13, GE Yiyao14, GUO Shaojun15, HAN Sumei16, HONG Xun17, HUANG Bolong7, HUANG Hongwen18, HUANG Xiao19, HUANG Xiaoqing20,21, LIAO Xiaozhou22, LING Chongyi23, LIU Dong24, LU Yang25,2, LU Qipeng16, NIU Wenxin26,27, SALEEM Faisal28, SHAO Minhua3, SHAO Qi29, SHI Zhenyu7, SONG Li30, SUN Shouheng31, TILLEY Richard D.32, WANG Deli33, WANG An-Liang34, WANG Jinlan23, XI Pinxian35, XIA Younan36,37, XIONG Yujie24, YANG Nailiang38,39, YIN Pengfei40, YU Yifu41, ZHANG Zhicheng42, ZHOU Meng43, ZHU Ye44, ZHANG Hua7,8,2,9   

  1. 1. Department of Chemistry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR 999077, P. R. China;
    2. Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center (NPMM), City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR 999077, P. R. China;
    3. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering & Energy Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR 999077, P. R. China;
    4. Shanghai Key Laboratory for R&D and Application of Metallic Functional Materials, Institute of New Energy for Vehicles, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, P. R. China;
    5. Engineering Research Center of Ministry of Education for Geological Carbon Storage and Low Carbon Utilization of Resources, School of Materials Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, P. R. China;
    6. Hebei Key Laboratory of Resource Low-carbon Utilization and New Materials, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, P. R. China;
    7. Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR 999077, P. R. China;
    8. Hong Kong Institute for Clean Energy, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR 999077, P. R. China;
    9. City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, P. R. China;
    10. College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, P. R. China;
    11. The Institute for Advanced Studies, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, P. R. China;
    12. Sate Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, P. R. China;
    13. Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong 999077, P. R. China;
    14. State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, P. R. China;
    15. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P. R. China;
    16. School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, P. R. China;
    17. Center of Advanced Nanocatalysis (CAN), Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P. R. China;
    18. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, P. R. China;
    19. Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), School of Flexible Electronics (SoFE), Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), Nanjing 211816, P. R. China;
    20. State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, P. R. China;
    21. Innovation Laboratory for Sciences and Technologies of Energy Materials of Fujian Province (IKKEM), Xiamen 361102, P. R. China;
    22. School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, J07 The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia;
    23. Key Laboratory of Quantum Materials and Devices of Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, P. R. China;
    24. Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P. R. China;
    25. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR 999077, P. R. China;
    26. State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, P. R. China;
    27. School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P. R. China;
    28. Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (KLOFE) & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), School of Flexible Electronics (Future Technologies), Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, P. R. China;
    29. College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, P. R. China;
    30. National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Free Electron Laser for Innovation Center of Energy Chemistry (FELiChEM), CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Key Laboratory of Precision and Intelligent Chemistry, School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230029, P. R. China;
    31. Department of Chemistry, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, United States;
    32. University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia;
    33. Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage (Huazhong University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China;
    34. Key Laboratory for Colloid and Interface Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, P. R. China;
    35. State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Frontiers Science Center for Rare Isotopes, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, P. R. China;
    36. The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA;
    37. School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA;
    38. State Key Laboratory of Biopharmaceutical Preparation and Delivery, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China;
    39. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P. R. China;
    40. Institute of New-Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, P. R. China;
    41. Institute of Molecular Plus, School of Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, P. R. China;
    42. Department of Chemistry, School of Science;
    Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, P. R. China;
    43. Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P. R. China;
    44. Department of Applied Physics, Research Institute for Smart Energy, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR 999077, P. R. China
  • Received:2025-04-04 Revised:2025-05-15 Online:2025-06-01 Published:2025-05-27
  • Contact: ZHANG Hua,E-mail:Hua.Zhang@cityu.edu.hk E-mail:Hua.Zhang@cityu.edu.hk

Abstract: Phase is a fundamental structural parameter that distinguishes the atomic arrangement in materials. The recent advancement in phase engineering of nanomaterials (PEN) has witnessed the discovery and intriguing physicochemical properties of a number of unconventional phases in metal nanomaterials, enabling their promising applications in catalysis, optics, and so on. With the aid of advanced characterization techniques and theoretical calculations, phase engineering of metal nanomaterials has made significant progress in terms of precisely controlled synthesis, phase transformation, and phase-dependent property studies. This review summarizes the recent progress of PEN with a focus on metal nanomaterials. First, we introduce various synthetic strategies to prepare unconventional-phase metal nanomaterials, including monometallic and multimetallic nanomaterials. Second, we discuss methods to realize phase transformation of metallic nanomaterials. Then, we demonstrate various phase-dependent properties and applications of metal nanomaterials. Last, current challenges and exciting opportunities in the phase engineering of metal nanomaterials are discussed.

Key words: Phase engineering of nanomaterial, Metal nanomaterial, Phase-dependent property, Unconventional-phase nanomaterial, Nanocatalysis