One-Step Synthesis of Magnetically Recyclable Au/Co/Fe Triple- Layered Core-Shell Nanoparticles as Highly Efficient Catalysts for the Hydrolytic Dehydrogenation of Ammonia Borane

Magnetically recyclable Au/Co/Fe core-shell nanoparticles （NPs） have been successfully synthesized via a one-step in situ procedure. Transmission electron microscope （TEM）, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic （EDS）, and electron energy-loss spectroscopic （EELS） measurements revealed that the trimetallic Au/Co/Fe NPs have a triple-layered core-shell structure composed of a Au core, a Co-rich inter-layer, and a Fe-rich shell. The Au/Co/Fe core-shell NPs exhibit much higher catalytic activities for hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane （NHBBH3, AB） than the monometallic （Au, Co, Fe） or bimetallic （AuCo, AuFe, CoFe） counterparts.