Mesoporous Rh Emerging from Nanophase-separated Rh-Y Alloy.

Mesoporous precious metals with abundant active sites and high surface area have been widely recognized as high-performance catalytic materials. However, the templated synthesis is complex and costly. Herein, we report a mesoporous rhodium (m-Rh) that can be readily synthesized from entangled nanofibres of Rh and Y2 O3 without templates. The entangled nanofibres, prepared from uniform Rh-Y alloys under redox atmosphere, were the key precursor in the synthesis processes. Moreover, the m-Rh efficiently catalyzed carbon dioxide reforming of methane (DRM) at a low reaction temperature of 683 K. Further, electrochemical methods of CO electro-oxidation were innovatively used to demonstrate the stability of CO and oxygen species for the DRM reaction.