Electrochemically Seed-Mediated Synthesis of Sub-10 nm Tetrahexahedral Pt Nanocrystals Supported on Graphene with Improved Catalytic Performance

J Am Chem Soc. 2016 May 11;138(18):5753-6. doi: 10.1021/jacs.5b13473. Epub 2016 Apr 13.

Abstract

Controlling the surface structure of Pt nanocrystals (NCs), especially creating high-index facets with abundant active step sites, is an effective approach to enhance catalytic performances. However, the available high-index faceted Pt NCs have large particle sizes, which severely impedes their practical applications. In this study, we reported a new electrochemically seed-mediated method, by which sub-10 nm tetrahexahedral Pt NCs (THH Pt NCs) enclosed with {210} high-index facets supported on graphene were synthesized. Pt nanoparticles of ∼3 nm in size as high-density crystal seeds play a key role in the small-sized control. The obtained THH Pt NCs exhibited a higher mass activity than commercial Pt/C catalyst for ethanol electrooxidation. We further demonstrated that this method is also valid for reshaping commercial Pt/C, to create high-index facets on surfaces and thus to improve both mass activity and stability.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't