Interfacial and solvent effects govern the formation of tris(dibenzylidenacetone)dipalladium(0) microstructures.
Organometallic palladium adducts have application as catalysts and as precursors for nanoparticle synthesis. Herein, we study the spontaneous formation of molecular crystals of the organometallic reagent tris(dibenzylidenacetone)dipalladium(0) (Pd(2)(DBA)(3)) in THF/H(2)O binary solvent systems. We report structural and chemical characterization of the resulting diverse structures with shapes including hexagonal platelets, rods, cubes, and stars. Optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive spectroscopy were used to determine representative structures and corresponding compositions when formed either in a binary solution or upon evaporation on a surface. The difference in Pd(2)(DBA)(3) particle morphology was attributed to differences in the surface tension of growing crystalline faces. The formation of a majority of rods or hexagonal platelets in solution was shown to be determined by the ratio of THF to H(2)O in the solvent, whereas supersaturation effects and interfacial surface tension played a major role in creating the shape of particles formed upon evaporation of Pd(2)(DBA)(3) droplets on a surface.
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, W. M. Keck Center for RNA-Mediated Evolutionary Materials Synthesis, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA.
Donovan N
DN
Leonard
Marta
M
Cerruti
Gerd
G
Duscher
Stefan
S
Franzen