Facile synthesis of Pt nanocrystals with controllable nanostructures and dominant facets as highly active electrocatalysts for ethanol and ethylene glycol oxidation

By Hu, Chao; Kong, Zhijie; Li, Pi; Xiao, Meifang; Liu, Song; Yu, Gang
Published in Materials Chemistry and Physics 2019

Abstract

The control of the nanostructure and dominant facet of platinum nanocrystals has received significant attention recently, mostly due to their related catalytic properties and catalytic functionalities. However, controlling the nanostructures and dominant facets of platinum nanocrystals is still a great challenge. Herein, we report a facile method to selectively synthesize highly controllable platinum nanocrystals with different nanostructures and dominant facets and investigate the effect on electrocatalytic. Although the synthesis of platinum nanocrystals has been reported some times, the synthetic approach reported herein is much more novel and ultimately results in high-quality platinum nanocrystals with different structures and dominant facets. The effects of DEG volume fraction on the nanostructure and dominant facets of the platinum nanocrystals are investigated and the mechanism for different nanostructures and dominant facets are examined. Electrocatalytic analyses show that the catalytic activities and stabilities of the synthesized platinum nanocrystals are related to their nanostructures and dominant facets. This study highlights that the platinum nanocrystals with (111)-dominant facet and a large number of crystalline boundaries are indeed promising candidates as electrocatalysts with excellent activity and stability.

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