Facile synthesis and electrochemiluminescence application of concave trisoctahedral Pd@Au core-shell nanocrystals bound by {331} high-index facets

Concave trisoctahedral (TOH) Pd@Au core-shell nanocrystals bound by {331} facets have been synthesized for the first time. Pd nanocubes and cetyltrimethylammonium chloride were used as the structure-directing cores and capping agents, respectively. Their optical and electrocatalytic properties were investigated.     

Synthesis of polyhedral iron oxide nanocrystals bound by high-index facets

High surface energy of high-index facets endows nanocrystals with high activities and thus promotes potential applications such as highly efficient catalysts,special optical,electrical and magnetic devices.But the high surface energy of the high-index facets usually drives them to grow faster than the other facets and finally disappear during the crystal growth,which leads the synthesis of nanocrystals with high-indexed facets exposed to be a great challenge.Herein,we introduced two routes to control the synthesis of-Fe2O3polyhedrons with different sets of high-index facets,one using different metal ions(Ni2+,Cu2+or Zn2+)as structure-directing agents and the other applying polymer surfactant sodium carboxymethyl cellulose(CMC)as additive.The growth process of high-index-Fe2O3polyhedrons was also discussed and possible growth mechanism was proposed.     

Palladium nanocrystals bound by {110} or {100} facets: from one pot synthesis to electrochemistry

A facile one-pot tactic is developed for the selective synthesis of either rhombic dodecahedral or cubic Pd nanocrystals with high yields. By applying a mild cleaning process, we establish for the first time reasonable and distinct electrochemical features corresponding to {110} or {100} facet predominated Pd nanocrystals.     

Cu(2+)-assisted synthesis of hexoctahedral Au-Pd alloy nanocrystals with high-index facets

Controlled syntheses of multicomponent metal nanocrystals (NCs) and high-index surfaces have attracted increasing attention due to the specific physical and chemical properties of such NCs. Taking advantage of copper underpotential deposition as a bridge, hexoctahedral Au-Pd alloy NCs with {hkl} facets exposed were successfully synthesized, while phase separation occurred in the absence of Cu(2+) ions. The as-prepared hexoctahedral Au-Pd alloy NCs exhibited very excellent performance in terms of both formic acid electro-oxidation and methanol tolerance due to synergism between the high-index facets and the alloy.     

Facile synthesis of concave decahedra enclosed by high-index facets and truncated decahedra with a large size

Nanostructures with concave surfaces are not common, and their synthesis is still challenging. In this paper, we have successfully synthesized two kinds of five-fold-twinned Au decahedra and dodecagonal plates by changing the reaction conditions. 40 high-index {221} facets were observed in the concave decahedron. The truncated decahedral gold nanocrystals (NCs) with a large size of 250-350 nm were obtained for the first time, which breaks the assumption that the truncated five-fold-twinned Au nanoparticles (NPs) can only be obtained with a size below 5 nm. The growth mechanism and the evolution process of the gold nanostructures were discussed. This work provides a facile way to synthesize concave decahedra, truncated decahedra and dodecagonal plates with controlled nanostructures.     

Pt-Cu and Pt-Pd-Cu concave nanocubes with high-index facets and superior electrocatalytic activity

Pt-Cu nanostructures: Pt-Cu nanocubes (NCs), concave nanocubes (CNCs), and Pt-Pd-Cu CNCs with high-index facets (HIFs) were prepared through progressive galvanic replacements in a one-pot hydrothermal approach. The HIF-enclosed CNCs showed superior activities to (100)-enclosed NC catalysts for methanol oxidations owing to the modification of both the surface electronic structures and the surface atomic arrangements (see figure).     

高指数晶面裸露的贵金属纳米晶体的合成

由于在高指数晶面上存在高密度的台阶位、扭结位原子等,高指数晶面裸露的贵金属纳米晶体一般表现出优越的物理化学性能,在催化、电化学等方面都有很重要的应用前景．近年来,研究人员围绕高指数晶面的制备进行了大量的工作并取得了一定进展．本文重点从合成制备方法的角度出发,结合本课题组的相关研究,系统总结了现有的有关制备高指数晶面裸露的贵金属纳米晶体的一些最新研究成果．从电化学方法、“帽”式试剂保护法、欠电位沉积原子层保护法、动力学调控、氧化刻蚀溶解再生长法以及模板法等几个方面对现有的高指数晶面裸露的贵金属纳米晶体的制备进行了总结．     

Catalytic PtPd bimetal nanocrystals with high-index facets for radiation injury repair

Radiotherapy is one of the most important clinical cancer treatments,which works mainly by delive ring a prescribed radiation dose to the tumor tissues.However,high doses of radiation may also lead many irreversible damages to the surrounding normal tissues.Thereby,how to effectively reduce these sideeffects has been a significant factor in influencing cancer therapeutic effect.In this work,we synthesized the hollow PtPd nanocubes with high-index facets,and investigated the radiation protection capability in vitro and in vivo.Our results showed the PtPd nanocrystals can decrease the ROS level and improve the survival rate of radiated cells.Meanwhile,survival rate of radiated mice can significantly increase from 0 to 30%after PtPd treatment.Consequently,the enzyme and ROS level in radiated mice can be recovered.     

Interfacial synthesis of pyramidal lead sulfide crystallites with high energy {331} facets

Single crystals of PbS in the form pyramids with a high proportion of high energy {331} faces are obtained by the use of a novel reaction technique at the interface of water and toluene. The pyramids spontaneously form a monolayer spread across the entire water-toluene interface. The influence of deposition parameters such as temperature, solution concentration, reaction time on the nature and properties of interfacial films are studied. In addition, the effect of solvo-static parameters such as column height and interfacial area are investigated. The obtained films are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM).     

Hexoctahedral Au nanocrystals with high-index facets and their optical and surface-enhanced Raman scattering properties

Au nanocrystals (NCs) with an unprecedented hexoctahedral structure enclosed exclusively by high-index {321} facets have been prepared for the first time. Manipulating the NC growth kinetics by controlling the amount of reductant and the reaction temperature in the presence of a suitable surfactant was the key synthetic lever for controlling the morphology of the Au NCs. The hexoctahedral Au NCs exhibited efficient optical and surface-enhanced Raman scattering activities due to their unique morphological characteristics.     

Facile synthesis of AgBr nanoplates with exposed {111} facets and enhanced photocatalytic properties

AgBr nanoplates with exposed {111} facets have been synthesized in high yield by a facile precipitation reaction, and the as-prepared nanoplates exhibited greatly enhanced photocatalytic properties for the degradation of organic pollutants, which may be primarily ascribed to the relatively higher surface energy of {111} facets.     

Amine-assisted facetted etching of CdSe nanocrystals

The treatment of CdSe nanocrystals (NCs) in a 3-amino-1-propanol (APOL)/water (v/v = 10:1) mixture at 80 degrees C in the presence of O(2) causes them to undergo a slow chemical etching process, as evidenced by spectroscopic and structural investigations. Instead of the continuous blue shift expected from a gradual decrease in NC dimensions, a bottleneck behavior was observed with distinct plateaus in the peak position of photoluminescence (PL) and corresponding maxima in PL quantum yield (i.e., 34 +/-7%). It is presently argued that such etching behavior is a result of two competitive processes taking place on the surface of these CdSe NCs: (i) oxidation of the exposed Se-sites to acidic SeO(x)() entities, which are readily solubilized in the basic APOL/H(2)O mixture, and (ii) coordination of the underlying Cd-sites with both amines and hydroxyl moieties to temporally impede NC dissolution. This is consistent with the HRTEM results, which suggest that the etched NCs adopt pyramidal morphologies with Cd-terminated facets (i.e., (0001) bases and either {011} or {21} sides) and account for the apparent resistance to etching at the plateau regions.     

Synthesis of micro-sized titanium dioxide nanosheets wholly exposed with high-energy {001} and {100} facets

A new synthetic strategy was developed to prepare large-sized well-defined anatase TiO(2) nanosheets wholly dominated with thermodynamically unfavorable high-reactive {001} and {100} facets, which has a percentage of 98.7% and 1.3%, respectively. The as-prepared anatase TiO(2) nanosheets show a well-faceted morphology and have a large size in length (ca. 4.14 μm). The formation mechanism of the anatase TiO(2) nanosheets was also analyzed and investigated.     

Synthesis of nanocrystals with variable high-index Pd facets through the controlled heteroepitaxial growth of trisoctahedral Au templates

The shape-controlled synthesis of noble metal nanocrystals (NCs) bounded by high-index facets is a current research interest because the products have the potential of significantly improving the catalytic performance of NCs in industrially important reactions. This study reports a versatile method for synthesizing polyhedral NCs enclosed by a variety of high-index Pd facets. The method is based on the heteroepitaxial growth of Pd layers on concave trisoctahedral (TOH) gold NC seeds under careful control of the growth kinetics. Polyhedral Au@Pd NCs with three different classes of high-index facets, including concave TOH NCs with {hhl} facets, concave hexoctahedral (HOH) NCs with {hkl} facets, and tetrahexahedral (THH) NCs with {hk0} facets, can be formed in high yield. The Miller indices of NCs are also modifiable, and we have used the THH NCs as a demonstrative example. The catalytic activities of these NCs were evaluated by the structure-sensitive reaction of formic acid electro-oxidation. The results showed that the high-index facets are generally more active than the low-index facets. In summary, a seeded growth process based on concave high-index faceted monometallic TOH NC templates and careful control of the growth kinetics is a simple and effective strategy for the synthesis of noble metal NCs with high-index facets. It also offers tailorability of the surface structure in shape-controlled synthesis.     

Pyramidal lead sulfide crystallites with high energy {113} facets

A new, generic method to exercise control over the shape of crystallites is reported. Crystals of PbS are grown in the unusual form of pyramids at the water-toluene interface. The pyramids are single crystalline and adopt a unique growth habit (slow growth along [113] direction). The pyramids are exclusive products of the reaction and are obtained in the form of a monolayered film spread across the fluid interface. The origins of the growth habit and assembly lie in phenomena unique to the liquid-liquid interface. The dimensions of the pyramidal base can be controllably varied in the range 575-1260 nm. Crystallites of other forms such as rods and spheres can be obtained by varying the properties of the fluid interface.