Single-phase aqueous approach toward Pd sub-10 nm nanocubes and Pd-Pt heterostructured ultrathin nanowires

摘要

Monodisperse, highly-selective sub-10 nm Pd and Rh nanocubes have been successfully synthesized and, for the first time, bimetallic Pd-Pt heterostructured ultrathin nanowires have been achieved through using Pd nanocubes as seeds by a one-pot, single-phase aqueous method. Noble metals have a wide range of applications in fields such as catalysis, biotechnology, optics and magnetism. While it is well known that the specific crystal planes and sizes of the noble metal structures have great influences on their catalytic and optical performance, up to now much less success has been achieved in shape- and size-controlled growth of pure noble metal and bimetallic heterostructures with sizes within sub-10 nm, through a single-phase aqueous method. The most popular method to control the size and dimensions of pure noble metals is the PVP-based polyol or aqueous synthetic route.