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Controlled Synthesis of Nanosized Palladium icosahedra and Their Catalytic Activity towards Formic‐Acid Oxidation
Author(s) -
Lv Tian,
Wang Yi,
Choi SangIl,
Chi Miaofang,
Tao Jing,
Pan Likun,
Huang Cheng Zhi,
Zhu Yimei,
Xia Younan
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201300479
Subject(s) - catalysis , palladium , icosahedral symmetry , nanocrystal , formic acid , ethylene glycol , materials science , kinetics , polyol , octahedron , chemical engineering , chemistry , crystallography , nanotechnology , crystal structure , organic chemistry , physics , composite material , quantum mechanics , engineering , polyurethane
Pd icosahedra with sizes controlled in the range of 5–35 nm were synthesized in high purity through a combination of polyol reduction and seed‐mediated growth. The Pd icosahedra were obtained with purity >94 % and uniform sizes controlled in the range of 5–17 nm by using ethylene glycol as both the reductant and solvent. The studies indicate that the formation of Pd nanocrystals with an icosahedral shape was very sensitive to the reaction kinetics. The success of this synthesis relies on the use of HCl to manipulate the reaction kinetics and thus control the twin structure and shape of the resultant nanocrystals. The size of the Pd icosahedra could be further increased up to 35 nm by seed‐mediated growth, with 17 nm Pd icosahedra serving as seeds. The multiply twinned Pd icosahedra could grow into larger sizes, and their shape and multiply twinned structure were preserved. Thanks to the presence of twin defects, the Pd icosahedra showed a catalytic current density towards formic‐acid oxidation that was 1.9 and 11.6 times higher than that of single‐crystal Pd octahedra, which were also fully covered by {111} facets, and commercial Pd/C, respectively.