Facile synthesis of highly active Pd-Cu nanowires catalyst through a simple wet-chemical strategy for ligand-free Suzuki cross coupling reaction

Pd-Cu nanowires were facilely synthesized by a simple one-pot wet-chemical method. The nanocrystals show remarkable catalytic performance toward ligand-free Suzuki cross coupling reaction under mild conditions. [Display omitted] •A facile and efficient one-pot wet chemical method was developed to synthesize Pd-Cu nanowires (NWs) using octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol as structure-directing and stabilizing agents.•The Pd-Cu NWs shows prominent catalytic ability and durability for the Suzuki cross coupling reaction under mild conditions.•Pd-Cu NWs is stable and reusable for the reaction. The construction and design of nanomaterials are important for improving their performance. Here we present a simple one-pot wet-chemical method for the preparation of alloyed Pd-Cu nanowires using octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol (NP-40) as structure-directing and stabilizing agents. The obtained nanocrystals display outstanding catalytic activity for ligand-free Suzuki cross coupling reaction under mild conditions, and can be easily recovered and reused for at least 5 consecutive cycles without showing significant loss of catalytic activity.