Hollow porous rhodium nanoballs

Hollow porous rhodium (Rh) nanoballs are prepared via a facile one-pot reaction. They are porous and possess dendritic exteriors, and it is easy to get them with a clean surface. Owing to the structrual advantages, they exhibit superior electrochemical catalytic activity and structural stability to the commercial Pt black towards ethanol electro-oxidation in alkaline medium.

Well-defined Pd anchoring on the surface of porous ZnO nanocomposites with excellent photocatalytic activity and good reusability for the removal of phenol from water

Well-defined Pd/ZnO nanocomposites prepared by modifying ZnO nanosheets with Pd nanoparticles exhibit excellent photocatalytic activity and good reusability for the removal of phenol from water.

Controlled deposition of Pt nanoparticles on Fe3O4@carbon microspheres for efficient oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural

We report core/shell structured magnetically recyclable catalysts with a well-defined spherical morphology. Using these as catalysts for the oxidation of HMF, a 100% yield of FDCA could be achieved in just 4 h at 90 °C in water .

Highly Controllable Surface Plasmon Resonance Property by Heights of Ordered Nanoparticle Arrays Fabricated via a Nonlithographic Route

Perfectly ordered nanoparticle arrays are fabricated on large-area substrates (>cm(2)) via a cost-effective nonlithographic route. Different surface plasmon resonance (SPR) modes focus consequently on their own positions due to the identical shape and uniform size and distance of these plasmonic metallic nanoparticles (Ag and Au). On the basis of this and FDTD (finite-difference time-domain) simulation, this work reveals the variation of all SPR parameters (position, intensity, width, and mode) with nanoparticle heights, which demonstrates that the effect of heights are different in various stages. On increasing the heights, the major dipole SPR mode precisely blue-shifts from the near-infrared to the visible region with intensity strengthening, a peak narrowing effect, and multipole modes excitation in the UV-vis range. The intensity of multipole modes can be manipulated to be equal to or even greater than the major dipole SPR mode. After coating conformal TiO2 shells on these nanoparticle arrays by atomic layer deposition, the strengthening of the SPR modes with increasing the heights results in the multiplying of the photocurrent (from ∼2.5 to a maximum 90 μA cm(-2)) in this plasmonic-metal-semiconductor-incorporated system. This simple but effective adjustment for all SPR parameters provides guidance for the future design of plasmonic metallic nanostructures, which is significant for SPR applications.

Plasmon Resonance Hybridization of Gold Nanospheres and Palladium Nanoshells Combined in a Rattle Structure

Gold and palladium nanoparticles are characterized by their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). In contrast with the sharp LSPR spectrum of gold nanoparticles, palladium nanoparticles had a broad LSPR spectrum. Palladium-gold nanorattles (PdAuNRT) are an ideal system with optical properties that are a hybrid of gold and palladium nanoparticles. The PdAuNRTs consisted of small gold nanospheres (AuNSs) located inside hollow palladium nanospheres (PdHNSs) of larger sizes without touching each other. PdAuNRTs of various sizes were synthesized by systematic variation of the experimental parameters. Interestingly, for the PdAuNRTs, where PdHNSs and AuNSs are separated by a distance, it was found that the broad plasmon resonance band of the PdHNSs hybridizes with the sharp plasmon resonance of the AuNSs located in its center. This was further confirmed experimentally by optical absorption measurements and theoretically using discrete dipole approximation technique. The plasmon resonance hybridization resulted in broadening of the LSPR spectrum of the PdAuNRTs and the appearance of a dip due to a Fano resonance.

Polyol syntheses of palladium decahedra and icosahedra as pure samples by maneuvering the reaction kinetics with additives

This article reports a robust method based upon polyol reduction for the deterministic synthesis of Pd decahedra or icosahedra with tunable sizes and a purity approaching 100%. The success of such a selective synthesis relies on an ability to fine-tune the reaction kinetics through the addition of Na2SO4 and HCl for decahedra and icosahedra, respectively. In the absence of any additive, the product of a similar synthesis in diethylene glycol contained 10% decahedra and 90% icosahedra. By optimizing the amount of Na2SO4 (or HCl) added into the reaction solution, the percent of decahedra (or icosahedra) in the product could be increased up to 100%. The roles of Na2SO4 and HCl were also investigated in great detail, and two plausible mechanisms were proposed and validated through a set of experiments. In general, a faster reduction rate is needed for the synthesis of Pd decahedra when compared with what is needed for Pd icosahedra. This work not only offers a simple approach to the deterministic syntheses of Pd decahedra and icosahedra but also provides an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms involved in shape-controlled syntheses of noble-metal nanocrystals from the perspective of reaction kinetics. On the basis of the mechanistic understanding, we have also achieved successful synthesis of Pd decahedra as pure samples by adding a proper amount of NaOH into the system to speed up the reduction kinetics.

Facile approach to prepare Pd nanoarray catalysts within porous alumina templates on macroscopic scales

The separation and reuse of nanocatalysts remains a major challenge. Herein, we report a novel approach to prepare palladium nanowire array catalysts by reducting PdCl2 in the pores of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates with backside Al sheets via a hydrothermal process. Suzuki coupling reactions and 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) reduction reactions were employed to study the catalytic activity of the nanocatalysts. The nanocatalysts demonstrated good activity, great thermal stability, easy separation, and excellent reusability in both Suzuki reaction and 4-NP reduction.

Synthesis of silver octahedra with controlled sizes and optical properties via seed-mediated growth

Silver octahedra with edge lengths controlled in the range of 20-72 nm were synthesized via seed-mediated growth. The key to the success of this synthesis is the use of single-crystal Ag seeds with uniform and precisely controlled sizes to direct the growth and the use of citrate as a selective capping agent for the {111} facets. Our mechanistic studies demonstrated that Ag seeds with both cubic and quasi-spherical shapes could evolve into octahedra. For the first time, we were able to precisely control the edge lengths of Ag octahedra below 100 nm, and the lower limit of size could even be pushed down to 20 nm. Using the as-obtained Ag octahedra as sacrificial templates, Au nanocages with an octahedral shape and precisely tunable optical properties were synthesized through a galvanic replacement reaction. Such hollow nanostructures are promising candidates for a broad range of applications related to optics, catalysis, and biomedicine.

Size-controlled synthesis of Au/Pd octopods with high refractive index sensitivity

Au/Pd octopods, nanostructures with eight branches and a primarily Au interior, have been synthesized as size-controlled samples through the manipulation of seed-mediated co-reduction. The position of their localized surface plasmon resonance can be controllably tuned throughout the visible and near-infrared regions, and this response is correlated with the structural features (branch length and tip width) of the octopods. These Au/Pd octopods were also found to be highly sensitive to changes in the local refractive index of the surrounding media and suitable substrates for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. These findings, coupled with their unique composition, highlight the multifunctional capabilities of the Au/Pd octopods and provide insight into the optical properties of architecturally controlled bimetallic nanostructures.