This work reports the formation of nanoprous Pd with tunable pore size and high stability by dealloying Pd30Cu40Ni10P20 metallic glass. The results show that lower dealloying temperature results in smaller pore size while the dealloying duration does not cause distinct change in the porous structure, even at an ambient dealloying temperature. The glassy structure and the multiple components in the precursor alloy are attributed to the hindered diffusion of Pd atoms and a slow coarsening rate of the nanoprous structure. The fully dealloyed porous sample with the smallest average pores size of 10 nm exhibit much higher catalytic activity when compare with the commercial Pd/C catalysts while the specimen with an average pores size of 13 nm shows the highest catalytic stability among the fully dealloyed alloys.

This work reports the effects of metallic glass precursors on the catalytic performance of nanoporous metals. Pd-based multicomponent nanoporous metals with similar nanoporous structure were successfully fabricated by electrochemically dealloying the Pd20Ni60P17B3 and Pd20Ni20Cu40P17B3 metallic glass precursors at the critical dealloying potentials. It was found that the glassy precursors with different chemical compositions result in different doping elements in the as-obtained nanoporous metals and thus lead to different catalytic activities.

Iron nitride films were deposited by radio frequency (RF) reactive magnetron sputtering at different bias voltages. It was found that the composition, structure and magnetic properties of the iron nitride films were strongly dependent on the depositing bias voltage. With a bias voltage of –50 V, the iron nitride film is fully dense and has a homogenous microstructure consisting of α-Fe and Fe16N2, leading to a unique combination of high Ms of 1645 emu/cc, Hc of 5 Oe and μi of 1573.