Amine-Assisted Synthesis of Concave Polyhedral Platinum Nanocrystals Having {411} High-Index Facets

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY , 133 , 13, 4718-4721, Publication Date : APR 6 2011

Author: Xiaoqing Huang, Zipeng Zhao, Jingmin Fan, Yueming Tan, and Nanfeng Zheng*

Abstract：High-index surfaces of a face-centered cubic metal (e.g., Pd, Pt) have a high density of low-coordinated surface atoms and therefore possess enhanced catalysis activity in comparison with low-index faces. However, because of their high surface energy, the challenge of chemically preparing metal nanocrystals having high-index facets remains. We demonstrate in this work that introducing amines as the surface controller allows concave Pt nanocrystals having {411} high-index facets to be prepared through a facile wet-chemical route. The as-prepared Pt nanocrystals display a unique octapod morphology with {411} facets. The presence of high-index {411} exposed facets endows the concave Pt nanocrystals with excellent electrocatalytic activity in the oxidation of both formic acid and ethanol.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ja1117528