Synthesis of rhodium concave tetrahedrons by collectively manipulating the reduction kinetics, facet-selective capping, and surface diffusion.
This paper describes a facile synthesis of Rh tetrahedrons with concave side faces by collectively manipulating the reaction kinetics, facet-selective capping, and surface diffusion of atoms. Specifically, a combination of Na3RhCl6, triethylene glycol, l-ascorbic acid, and citric acid provides the right conditions for generating the concave tetrahedrons. After the formation of small Rh tetrahedral seeds through self-nucleation, the subsequently generated Rh atoms were selectively deposited onto the corner sites to generate Rh tetrapods. At the same time, the deposited atoms could diffuse from the corners to edges to generate concave side faces because the diffusion to face sites was restrained by the citric acid adsorbed on the {111} facets. This study offers deep insight into the growth mechanism involved the formation of noble-metal nanocrystals with concave surfaces. The Rh concave tetrahedrons were encased by a mix of {111} and {110} facets, showing great potential for catalytic applications.
The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States.
Shuifen
S
Xie
Hui
H
Zhang
Ning
N
Lu
Mingshang
M
Jin
Jinguo
J
Wang
Moon J
MJ
Kim
Zhaoxiong
Z
Xie
Younan
Y
Xia
D002384:Catalysis; D004058:Diffusion; D007700:Kinetics; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010165:Palladium / Q000737:chemistry; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D012238:Rhodium / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties
C028914:triethylene glycol; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D010165:Palladium; D012238:Rhodium