Kinetically controlled synthesis of triangular and hexagonal nanoplates of palladium and their SPR/SERS properties

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja056498s

The rapid reduction of Na₂PdCl₄ by ethylene glycol in the presence of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) has recently been demonstrated as a convenient method of generating Pd cubooctahedra and twinned nanoparticles. Here we describe a new procedure where Pd triangular or hexagonal nanoplates could be selectively synthesized by manipulating the reduction kinetics of the polyol process. More specifically, the reduction rate was substantially reduced through the introduction of Fe(III) species and the O₂/Cl^- pair, two wet etchants for Pd(0). The etching power of the O ₂/Cl^- pair could be further enhanced by adding an acid to lower the pH of the reaction solution. Unlike the previously reported synthesis of Ag and Au nanoplates, light was found to have no indispensable role in the formation of Pd nanoplates. Both triangular and hexagonal nanoplates of Pd exhibited surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peaks in the visible region, and their positions matched with the results of discrete dipole approximation (DDA) calculation. Thanks to their sharp corners and edges, these Pd nanoplates could serve as active substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS).

Full text of DOI:10.1021/ja056498s

Published on Web 11/10/2005
Kinetically Controlled Synthesis of Triangular and Hexagonal
Nanoplates of Palladium and Their SPR/SERS Properties
Yujie Xiong,† Joseph M. McLellan,† Jingyi Chen,† Yadong Yin,‡ Zhi-Yuan Li,§ and
Younan Xia*,†
Contribution from the Department of Chemistry, UniVersity of Washington,
Seattle, Washington 98195, The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
Berkeley, California 94720, and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Beijing 100080, P. R. China
Received September 21, 2005; E-mail: xia@chem.washington.edu
Abstract: The rapid reduction of Na2PdCl4 by ethylene glycol in the presence of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone)
(PVP) has recently been demonstrated as a convenient method of generating Pd cubooctahedra and twinned
nanoparticles. Here we describe a new procedure where Pd triangular or hexagonal nanoplates could be
selectively synthesized by manipulating the reduction kinetics of the polyol process. More specifically, the
reduction rate was substantially reduced through the introduction of Fe(III) species and the O2/Cl- pair,
two wet etchants for Pd(0). The etching power of the O2/Cl- pair could be further enhanced by adding an
acid to lower the pH of the reaction solution. Unlike the previously reported synthesis of Ag and Au
nanoplates, light was found to have no indispensable role in the formation of Pd nanoplates. Both triangular
and hexagonal nanoplates of Pd exhibited surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peaks in the visible region,
and their positions matched with the results of discrete dipole approximation (DDA) calculation. Thanks to
their sharp corners and edges, these Pd nanoplates could serve as active substrates for surface-enhanced
Raman scattering (SERS).
Introduction
parameters to tailor their properties for various applications.
Recently, shape control has received considerable attention,8
Synthesis of metal nanostructures has been a research theme
for decades as driven by their widespread use in catalysis,
photography, photonics, electronics, optoelectronics, plasmonics,
information storage, optical sensing, biological labeling, imag-
ing, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS).1-6 The
properties of metal nanostructures are determined by their size,
shape, composition, crystallinity, and structure (e.g. solid versus
hollow).3a,7 One can, in principle, control any one of these
because in many cases it allows one to fine-tune the properties
with a greater versatility than can be achieved otherwise. For
instance, as it has been predicted by computational studies and
confirmed by experimental work, the number and position of
surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peaks, as well as the effective
spectral range for SERS, can both be easily tuned by controlling
the shape of metal nanostructures.2e,6d,8e,9,10 To date, shape-
controlled synthesis has been achieved for a number of metals
and alloys, including Co, Ag, Au, Pt, Pd, Rh, Ir, and FePt. Most
† University of Washington.
‡ Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
§ Chinese Academy of Sciences.
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J. AM. CHEM. SOC. 2005, 127, 17118-17127
10.1021/ja056498s CCC: $30.25 © 2005 American Chemical Society

Triangular and Hexagonal Nanoplates of Palladium
A R T I C L E S
of these procedures involve the reduction of salt compounds or
thermal decomposition of organometallic precursors in the
presence of surfactants, polymers, biomolecules, and coordinat-
ing ligands and sometimes with the mediation of seeds.8
As a noble metal, Pd plays a central role in many industrial
applications.11,12 For example, it serves as the primary catalyst
for low-temperature reduction of automobile pollutants11 and
for organic reactions such as Suzuki, Heck, and Stille coupling.12
To maximize the performance in these applications, a great deal
of efforts has been devoted to the synthesis of Pd nanostruc-
tures: Pd nanoparticles of various morphologies have been
prepared in the presence of surfactants or polymers, with the
mediation of RNAs, through the decomposition of a Pd-sur-
factant complex, or via the direction of a coordinating ligand.13
The control knobs of all these syntheses have been largely
limited to temperature, the concentration of precursor, and the
surfactant or polymer. The ability to control and fine-tune the
shape of Pd nanostructures has been modestly successful. It still
remains a grand challenge to deterministically generate a specific
shape.
opportunities have inspired us to systematically investigate
shape-controlled synthesis of Pd nanostructures.
This paper describes the facile synthesis of Pd triangular and
hexagonal nanoplates using a modified polyol process. Polyol
reduction has long been known as a simple and versatile method
for producing metal nanoparticles.18 We have recently rede-
signed this method for generating metal nanostructures with
well-controlled shapes.19 Here we demonstrate that oxidative
etching by Fe(III) species and the Cl-/O2 pair, when coupled
with polyol reduction, could significantly alter the reduction
kinetics of Pd precursor and, thus, induce the formation of
triangular and hexagonal nanoplates. We have also investigated
their SPR properties and examined their potential as SERS
substrates. Our results clearly demonstrate that Pd will provide
another interesting and useful system for both plasmonic and
SERS applications.
Experimental Section
Chemicals and Materials. Ethylene glycol (EG, J. T. Baker, 9300-
01), sodium palladium(II) chloride (Na2PdCl4, Aldrich, 379808-1g),
poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP, Aldrich, 856568-100g, MW ) 55 000),
and anhydrous ferric chloride (FeCl3, Fisher, I89-100g) were all used
as received without further purification.
Another important property of Pd nanoparticles that remains
largely unexplored is their SPR features, which could lead to
applications in colorimetric sensing, plasmonic waveguiding,
enhancement of electromagnetic fields and light transmission,
and optical sensing of hydrogen.14 The SPR peak of small Pd
nanoparticles (typically <10 nm in size) is located in the UV
region, which gives them an uninteresting black color and makes
their SPR characteristics much more difficult to probe due to
the strong absorption of light at these wavelengths by glass and
most solvents.15 Recently we found that the SPR peak of Pd
nanocubes could be shifted to the visible region by increasing
their sizes to >25 nm.16a Using the discrete dipole approximation
(DDA) method,9c,17 it was also found that the SPR features could
be further tailored through shape control. The position of the
SPR peak determines not only the color of a colloidal suspension
but also the wavelength of excitation, at which one would obtain
the maximum electromagnetic field enhancement. A strong local
electric field is crucial to the enhancement of Raman and other
spectroscopic signals.17a It has been reported that metal nano-
structures with sharp corners or edges are especially active SERS
Synthesis of Pd Triangular Nanoplates. In a typical synthesis, 5
mL of EG was placed in a three-neck flask (equipped with a reflux
condenser and a Teflon-coated magnetic stirring bar) and heated in air
at 85 °C for 1 h. Meanwhile, 0.0162 g of Na2PdCl4 and 0.0312 g of
PVP were separately dissolved in 3 mL of EG at room temperature,
followed by the addition of 55 µL of aqueous HCl solution (1.0 M) to
the Pd precursor solution. After 20 µL of 0.2 M FeCl3 solution in EG
was added to the flask, the two solutions of Pd precursor and PVP
(with the molar ratio between Pd and the repeating unit of PVP being
1:5) were simultaneously injected through a two-channel syringe pump
(KDS-200, Stoelting, Wood Dale, IL) at a rate of 12 mL/h. The reaction
mixture was continued with heating at 85 °C in air for 4.5 h. The
product was centrifuged and washed with acetone once and then with
ethanol three times to remove EG and excess PVP. The as-obtained
sample was characterized using transmission electron microscopy
(TEM), electron diffraction (ED), high-resolution TEM (HRTEM),
powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and UV-vis spectroscopy.
Synthesis of Pd Hexgonal Nanoplates. The procedure was similar
to what was used for the triangular nanoplates, except that 40 µL
(instead of 20 µL) of 0.2 M FeCl3 solution was added to the reaction
system before introducing the Pd precursor and PVP.
2
substrates, and the local value of |E| could be more than 500
times that of the applied field.17b All these challenges and
SERS Measurements. The samples for SERS studies were prepared
by drying 3 µL of the aqueous sols on an Al film (25 nm) thermally
evaporated onto a Si wafer. The substrate was incubated in a 4 mM
aqueous 4-mercaptopyridine solution for 1 h, rinsed with deionized
water, and dried with a stream of air. SERS spectra were obtained at
a laser excitation wavelength of 785 nm using a Leica DM IRBE op-
tical microscope equipped with a Renishaw inVia Raman system
(HPNIR785) and a thermoelectrically cooled CCD detector. The spot
size was 1.6 µm, and the laser power was 3 mW at the sample surface.
Instrumentation. All TEM images were taken using a Phillips 420
transmission electron microscope operated at 120 kV. HRTEM images
and ED patterns were taken on a JEOL 2010 LaB6 high-resolution
transmission electron microscope operated at 200 kV. The samples for
TEM studies were prepared by drying a drop of the aqueous suspension
of particles on a piece of carbon-coated copper grid (Ted Pella, Redding,
CA) under ambient conditions. The grid was then transferred to a
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A R T I C L E S
Xiong et al.
Figure 1. Electron microscopy characterization of Pd triangular nanoplates prepared at 85 °C in the presence of 0.36 mM FeCl3 and 5 mM HCl, with the
molar ratio of PVP to Pd precursor being 5 (concentrations given in all figure captions are the final values in the reaction solution): (A, B) TEM images;
(C, D) high-resolution TEM images. The inset in (B) gives the TEM image of a titled triangular nanoplate showing one of its side faces. The inset of (C)
shows a schematic drawing of the triangular nanoplate, where the red and green colors represent the {100} and {111} facets, respectively.
Pd cubooctahedra and 10% MTPs of 8-10 nm in size.20 These
gravity-fed flow cell and washed for 1 h with deionized water to remove
the excess PVP. Finally, the sample was dried and stored in a vacuum
results confirm that cubooctahedra and MTPs of Pd have
for TEM characterization. Powder XRD patterns were recorded on a
Philips 1820 diffractometer equipped with a Cu KR radiation source
(λ ) 1.541 80 Å). UV-vis extinction spectra were taken using a
one must carefully control the reduction kinetics, particularly
Hewlett-Packard 8452A diode array spectrophotometer.
relatively low surface free energies and are thereby favored by
thermodynamics. Therefore, for the synthesis of Pd nanoplates,
at the seeding stage, as formation of these highly anisotropic
structures only become favorable in a slow reduction process.21
Results and Discussion
Several research groups have employed such a kinetic control
The essence of polyol synthesis is the reduction of a metal
to obtain triangular and circular nanoplates of Ag in a num-
salt by EG in the presence of PVP. Palladium atoms can be
ber of different solvents.22 The success of the present synthesis
2-
produced by reducing a precursor such as PdCl4 with EG
is based on the oxidative etching of Pd(0) by FeCl3 and the
through the following two steps:18
Cl-/O2 pair; both of them can be added with good precision to
tightly control the reduction kinetics of PdCl42- and thus obtain
2HOCH2CH2OH f 2CH3CHO + 2H2O
PdCl42- + 2CH3CHO f
(1)
highly anisotropic nanostructures.
Structural Analysis of the Pd Triangular Nanoplates.
Figure 1A,B shows the TEM images of a typical product which
contained 70% triangular nanoplates of ∼28 nm in edge length
and 30% cubooctahedral and twinned nanoparticles of 8-20
nm in size. The inset of Figure 1B shows the TEM image of a
titled nanoplate, from which the thickness of the plate was
estimated to be around 5 nm. Figure 1C,D shows the HRTEM
CH3CO-OCCH3 + Pd + 2H+ + 4Cl- (2)
Like other face-centered cubic (fcc) noble metals, the thermo-
dynamically favorable shapes of Pd nanocrystals are cubooc-
2-
tahedra and multiple twinned particles (MTPs). When PdCl4
is reduced by EG to generate Pd(0) atoms at a sufficiently high
rate, the final product will have no choice but to take the
thermodynamically favored shapes. When the reduction becomes
substantially slow, however, the nucleation and growth will be
turned into kinetic control and the final product can take a range
of shapes deviated from the thermodynamic ones.
(20) Xiong, Y.; Chen, J.; Wiley, B.; Xia, Y.; Aloni, S.; Yin, Y. J. Am. Chem.
Soc. 2005, 127, 7332.
(21) Mullin, J. W. Crystallization; Butterworth: London, 1961.
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G. Science 2001, 294, 1901. (b) Chen, S.; Carroll, D. L. Nano Lett. 2002,
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Mirkin, C. A. Nature 2003, 425, 487.
In our previous studies, it was found that when PdCl42- was
added to EG heated to an elevated temperature, the rapid
2-
reduction (within ∼5 min) of PdCl4 by EG produced 90%
9
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Triangular and Hexagonal Nanoplates of Palladium
A R T I C L E S
Figure 2. (A) ED pattern taken from an individual Pd triangular nanoplate (shown by the TEM image in the left panel) by directing the electron beam
perpendicular to its triangular faces. (B) ED pattern taken from the edge of this nanoplate (shown by the TEM image in the left panel) by tilting the
nanoplate by 35°.
images of a nanoplate recorded along the [1h11] zone axis. The
fringes in Figure 1D are separated by 2.4 Å, which can be
ascribed to the 1/3{422} reflection that is usually forbidden for
an fcc lattice.
all the peaks can be assigned to fcc Pd (JCPDS card, 05-0681).
It is worth noting that the ratio between the intensities of (111)
and (200) peaks is much higher than the index value (2.89 versus
2.38), indicating that the top and bottom faces of each nanoplate
are bounded by {111} planes. These nanoplates are more or
less oriented parallel to the supporting substrate, resulting in a
stronger (111) diffraction peak than that of a conventional
powder sample.
Roles of Fe(III) and Oxygen. Although the reduction kinetics
can often be controlled by varying experimental parameters such
as temperature, here we found that the introduction of an etchant
such as Fe(III) species or the O2/Cl- pair was more convenient
and versatile. For instance, we have performed the synthesis at
70, 50, and 30 °C without adding FeCl3 and HCl. While the
reduction became notably slower at both 70 and 50 °C, it was
still too fast to generate Pd nanoplates. Cuboctahedra were
obtained as the major species in these two products. At 30 °C,
the reduction of Pd precursor ceased and no Pd nanoparticles
were observed even after several days. These observations can
be understood in terms of the Arrhenius equation
Figure 2A shows the ED pattern recorded by directing the
electron beam perpendicular to the triangular flat faces of an
individual nanoplate. The 6-fold rotational symmetry of the
diffraction spots implies that the triangular faces are actually
presented by {111} planes. Two sets of spots can be identified
based on their d spacing: the outer set with a spacing of 1.4 Å
is due to the {220} reflection of fcc Pd, and the inner set with
a lattice spacing of 2.4 Å is believed to originate from the
forbidden 1/3{422} reflection. The forbidden 1/3{422} reflection
has also been observed in Ag or Au nanostructures in the form
of thin plates or films bounded by atomically flat surfaces.22,24
It should be pointed out that the 1.4 Å d spacing of the {220}
planes is beyond the resolution of our microscope, and hence
the {220} fringes were not observed in the HRTEM images.
Figure 2B shows a diffraction pattern of the side face recorded
in the [011] orientation when the nanoplate was titled by 35°.
This pattern confirms that the side faces of each nanoplate are
bound by the {100} planes. With these observations combined,
it can be concluded that the Pd triangular nanoplates are bound
by two {111} planes as the top and bottom faces and three {100}
planes as the side faces. A schematic illustration is shown in
the inset of Figure 1C. These assignments are similar to the
results previously reported for triangular nanoplates of Ag and
Au.22,23
ln k ) (-Ea/RT) + B
(3)
where k is the rate constant and Ea is the activation energy. For
this exponential process, control of reduction kinetic via change
of temperature alone becomes extremely difficult due to the
nonlinearity and high sensitive toward temperature.
Different from temperature control, oxidative etching pro-
vides a simple and versatile means of manipulating the reduc-
tion kinetics. As we have demonstrated in previous studies, the
O2/Cl- pair was able to selectively remove twinned particles
involved in the polyol synthesis of Ag and Pd nanostructures,
leaving behind only single-crystal cuboctahedra in the final
products.19,20 In the present case, however, etching by O2/Cl-
alone could not sufficiently slow the reduction to achieve
anisotropic growth and form thin nanoplates. This is mainly
The phase purity and high crystallinity of the Pd triangular
nanoplates is also supported by powder X-ray diffraction. Figure
S1 shows the typical PXRD pattern of an as-prepared sample;
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A R T I C L E S
Xiong et al.
Figure 3. TEM images of four as-obtained samples illustrating the variation in morphology by changing the amount of FeCl3 or excluding air from the
system, while other parameters were kept the same as in Figure 1 (at 85 °C, in the presence of 5 mM HCl, and with the molar ratio of PVP to Pd precursor
being 5): (A) no FeCl3; (B) 0.18 mM FeCl3; (C) 0.72 mM FeCl3; (D) 0.36 mM FeCl3. The syntheses of (A)-(C) were performed in air while the synthesis
of (D) was conducted under continuous bubbling of Ar. The inset in (C) shows a schematic drawing of the hexagonal nanoplate, where the red and green
colors represent the {100} and {111} facets, respectively.
limited by the low level of O2 dissolved in EG and/or adsorbed
on the surface of Pd particles. To solve this problem, we
explored other oxidative etchants that could be quantitatively
added to the reaction solution. Ferric species is a well-
established, effective wet etchant for noble metals.25 As sug-
gested by the standard potentials of the redox pairs involved in
this system, Fe(III) could oxidize Pd(0) back to Pd(II), compet-
ing with reaction 2, and thus reducing the overall formation
rate of Pd(0):26
On the basis of the above arguments, the concentration of
Fe(III) species should play a critical role in controlling the
reduction kinetics and thus the morphology of resultant Pd
nanostructures. We have confirmed that both the retardation of
reduction and the morphology of final product were strongly
dependent on the concentration of FeCl3. As shown in Figure
3A, the sample mainly consisted of cubooctahedral nanoparticles
in the absence of FeCl3. As the concentration of FeCl3 was
increased to 0.18 and 0.36 mM, the product contained 35%
(Figure 3B) and 70% (Figure 1B) triangular nanoplates,
respectively. However, if the concentration of FeCl3 exceeded
0.36 mM, the major product became hexagonal plates, which
represent another kinetically controlled morphology. Figure 3C
shows the TEM image of a sample prepared with the addition
of 0.72 mM FeCl3. These results clearly demonstrated that
addition of Fe(III) species can lead to new shapes significantly
deviated from the thermodynamically favored ones such as
cuboctahedral and twinned nanoparticles.
As discussed by Wang in a review article,23 the flat top and
bottom faces of these hexagonal plates should be bound by
{111} planes, and the six side faces by {111} and {100} planes,
as shown by the geometrical model in the inset of Figure 3C.
These assignments are confirmed by the ED pattern (Figure 4A)
taken from an individual nanoplate by directing the electron
beam perpendicular to its hexagonal flat faces. Similar to the
case of triangular nanoplate, the 6-fold symmetry of the
diffraction spots indicates that the hexagonal faces are bound
by {111} planes. We can identify two sets of spots, with the
outer set being indexed to the {220} reflection of fcc Pd and
the inner set to the forbidden 1/3{422} reflection. Figure 4B
Fe3+ + e- f Fe2+ E° ) 0.77 V
(4)
(5)
PdCl42- + 2e- f Pd + 4Cl- E° ) 0.59 V
Most recently, we also discovered that the introduction of
Fe(III) species into the synthesis of Pd nanocubes could reduce
the nucleation density and thus produce relatively large
nanocubes.16a As indicated by the change of color from yellow-
brown to dark brown, the reduction was retarded for almost 8
min when 1.25 mM FeCl3 was used. In the present synthesis,
the etching powers of both Fe(III) species and the O2/Cl- pair
were added together to achieve a tighter control over the
reduction kinetics. Furthermore, simultaneous introduction of
an acid such as HCl also enhanced the etching powder of the
O2/Cl- pair. Combined together, the polyol reduction time of
2-
PdCl4 could be stretched from less than 5 min to 1 h to
significantly decrease the supersaturation of Pd atoms and alter
the growth kinetics of Pd nanoparticles.
(25) Xia, Y.; Kim, E.; Whitesides, G. M. J. Electrochem. Soc. 1996, 143, 1070.
(26) Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 60th ed.; Weast, R. C., Ed.; CRC
Press: Boca Raton, FL, 1980.
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Triangular and Hexagonal Nanoplates of Palladium
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Figure 4. (A) ED pattern taken from an individual Pd hexagonal nanoplate (shown by the TEM image in the inset) by directing the electron beam perpendicular
to its hexagonal flat faces. (B) ED pattern taken from the hexagonal faces of the same nanoplate (shown by the TEM image in inset) after it had been titled
by 35°.
shows the ED pattern taken along the [011] zone axis when the
nanoplate was titled by 35°. On the basis of this diffraction
pattern and symmetry consideration, one can deduce that the
side faces of a hexagonal nanoplate must be bound by a mix of
{100} and {111} planes.
parameter in controlling the formation of triangular nanoplates.
When the amount of acid was doubled, the reaction would not
proceed at 85 °C whether in the presence of Fe(III) species or
not, due to extensive etching by O2/Cl-. At higher temperature
such as 95 °C, the reaction could still be initiated under these
conditions, but nanoplates were obtained at low yields (see
Figure 5A,B). These results imply that the over etching could
be disadvantageous to the formation of uniform nanoplates, even
though the reduction rate was substantially reduced. Conversely,
if too little acid was added, the reaction would be too fast for
nanoplates to form. As an example, Figure 5C shows the result
of a typical sample that was prepared when half of the amount
of acid for Figure 1 was used. This sample mainly consists of
cuboctahedral and twinned nanoparticles. Interestingly, in this
case, the reduction kinetics could be regulated by controlling
the concentration of Fe(III) species and hence improve the yield
of nanoplates (see Figure 5D). These studies clearly demonstrate
that both the O2/Cl- pair and Fe(III) species play important roles
as oxidative etchants in the polyol synthesis, illustrating the
power and versatility of their combined effects.
Influence of Temperature and Preheating Time. Although
temperature control does not provide a useful means to alter
the reduction kinetics, selection of an appropriate temperature
seems to be instrumental to the achievement of a desirable
reduction rate. For example, we have carried out reactions at
various temperatures and found that the lowest temperature
allowed for polyol reduction was 78 °C. For reactions carried
out at temperatures above 78 °C, the reaction rate increased
sharply with temperature, as indicated by a quick change in
color for the solution (from yellow-brown to dark brown). Figure
6A-C shows TEM images of samples obtained at three different
temperatures. We found that both the shape and size of the
product depended on temperature in three different ways. First,
slow reduction at low temperatures greatly reduced the level of
supersaturation and hence the number of seeds formed in the
nucleation step. At the same concentration of Pd precursor, a
decrease in the number of seeds resulted in the formation of Pd
nanoparticles with larger sizes. In comparison with the products
shown in Figures 1 and 3, the nanoparticles prepared at 78 °C
were much bigger. Second, the reduction rate, depending on
the temperature, was critical to the control of reduction kinetics
and hence the formation of triangular nanoplates. As temperature
was increased, the yield of nanoplates decreased distinctly.
Third, oxidative etching of twinned particles could be partially
eliminated at low temperatures. As we have demonstrated, the
Pd twinned particles in a sample could be selectively removed
The presence of oxygen from air was also critical to the
control of reduction kinetics and hence morphology because it
was responsible for the oxidation of Fe(II) back to Fe(III).
Without oxygen, the concentration of Fe(III) species in the
solution would quickly decrease due to their depletion in
the etching process, as well as due to the reduction by EG. As
Fe(II) species cannot oxidize Pd(0), the rate at which Pd(0) was
etched would be reduced. It should be emphasized that
Pd(0) was not etched by Fe(III) alone, the presence of O2/Cl-
pairs also contributed to the etching process, especially with
the addition of an acid. In the absence of air, the reduction rate
became notably faster. For these reasons, the percentage of
triangular nanoplates in the sample prepared in the absence of
air dropped from 70% to 30% (Figure 3D).
It is worth noting that the rates of both reduction and
nucleation were extremely slow thanks to the oxidative etching.
After the nucleation step, the Pd seeds grew larger as more
Pd(0) atoms were added to the surface of seeds. Meanwhile,
due to the small number of seeds and the high concentration of
Pd precursor in the solution, additional nucleation events might
also occur with continuous formation of Pd(0) atoms. In
addition, although we could improve the yield of triangular
plates by controlling the reduction kinetics, the thermodynami-
cally favored cuboctahedra could not be completely prevented.
Taken together, the final product exhibited a relatively broad
distribution in size and shape. Further optimization of the experi-
mental condition is needed to improve the uniformity of the
sample.
Effect of Acid. As previously stated, an acid could be
introduced to enhance the etching power of the O2/Cl- pair.
This is supported by the standard electrical potentials:26
O2 + 4H+ + 4e- f 2H2O E° ) 1.229 V
O2 + 2H2O + 4e- f 4OH- E° ) 0.401 V
(6)
(7)
According to the Nernst equation, the potential of half reaction
6 is strongly dependent on the concentration of acid. It is clear
that the oxidation power of O2 could be greatly improved by
decreasing the pH value of the solution. Hence, the amount of
acid added to the reaction solution should be another key
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A R T I C L E S
Xiong et al.
Figure 5. TEM images of four as-obtained samples illustrating the variation in morphology when different experimental conditions were involved (with the
molar ratio of PVP to Pd precursor being kept at 5): (A) 10 mM HCl and 0.36 mM FeCl3 at 95 °C; (B) 10 mM HCl and no FeCl3 at 95 °C; (C) 2.5 mM
HCl and 0.36 mM FeCl3 at 85 °C; (D) 2.5 mM HCl and 0.72 mM at 85 °C.
Figure 6. Influence of reaction temperature and preheating time on the morphology of resultant Pd nanostructures. The TEM images were taken from
samples prepared at (A) 78 °C, (B) 80 °C, (C) 90 °C, and (D) 85 °C. The ethylene glycol in (A)-(C) was preheated for 1 h while it was preheated for 3
h in synthesis D. All other experimental conditions were the same as those used for the synthesis in Figure 1 (in the presence of 0.36 mM FeCl3 and 5 mM
HCl, with the molar ratio of PVP to Pd precursor being 5).
by the O2/Cl- pair to leave behind single-crystal cuboctahedra
at temperature above 110 °C.20 In the present system, removal
of twinned particles seems to be negligible, especially at
relatively low temperatures. As a result, there are more twinned
nanoparticles in the sample prepared at a low temperature of
78 °C (see Figure 6A). In general, the product morphology is
strongly dependent on temperature, largely due to the influence
of temperature on both reduction kinetic and oxidative etching
of multiple twinned species.
As described in the Experimental Section, it was necessary
to preheat the ethylene glycol for 1 h before injecting Pd
precursor and PVP to generate enough aldehyde. As shown in
reaction 1, aldehyde is the major reductant involved in a polyol
synthesis. It is worth noting that the preheating time is not a
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Triangular and Hexagonal Nanoplates of Palladium
A R T I C L E S
Figure 8. TEM images of a sample prepared under the same conditions
as in Figure 1 (at 85 °C in the presence of 0.36 mM FeCl3 and 5 mM HCl,
with the molar ratio of PVP to Pd precursor being 5), except the complete
exclusion of light from the reaction system.
Figure 7. TEM images of two as-synthesized samples illustrating the
variation in morphology when different molar ratios between PVP and Pd
precursor were used: (A) 1; (B) 25. All other experimental conditions were
the same as those used for the synthesis in Figure 1 (at 85 °C in the presence
of 0.36 mM FeCl3 and 5 mM HCl).
ones. In the present case, a large quantity of PVP would
probably passivate the {100} side faces of nanoplates, resulting
in small lateral dimensions. In addition, in the presence of a
large quantity of PVP, the twinned particles could be protected
from etching by the Cl-/O2 pair and therefore be left behind in
the final product.
negligible parameter. If the preheating time was prolonged to
3 h, the reaction generated superfluous aldehyde that would
substantially speed up the reduction, resulting in a low yield of
triangular nanoplates and a smaller size (see Figure 6D).
Influence of Molar Ratio between PVP and Pd Precursor.
The exact role of PVP in controlling the formation of Pd
triangular nanoplates is yet to be completely understood. We
believe that the major function of PVP was to prevent the Pd
nanoparticles from growing too large or aggregating into large
entities in the nucleation stage.
The percentage of Pd triangular nanoplates in the final
product, as well as the morphology of other Pd structures
produced during the reaction, was found to strongly depend on
the molar ratio between PVP and Pd precursor. When this ratio
was around 5, the content of Pd triangular nanoplates contained
in the as-synthesized sample could approach 70%, as shown in
Figure 1A. However, if the ratio was decreased or increased to
other numbers, the yield of Pd nanoplates in the final product
would drop. Figure 7 shows the TEM images of two other
samples that were prepared under a condition similar to the one
used for Figure 1A, except that the molar ratio of PVP to Pd
precursor was varied to values other than 5. Figure 7A shows
a typical image of the product where the ratio was reduced to
1. This image implies that the percentage of nanoplates sharply
dropped. This result suggests that, with less PVP, the surface
of nanoparticles was easily etched so that their morphology was
affected. When this ratio was increased to 25, the final product
was found to exist as small triangular nanoplates and twinned
nanoparticles. As established in a recent study related to the
growth of Ag nanowires,27 the PVP macromolecules were found
to interact more strongly with {100} planes than with {111}
Effect of Light. As demonstrated in the synthesis of Ag
nanoplates, light of appropriate wavelengths was indispensable
for the formation of plate morphology.22,24 To clarify this point,
we performed a reaction by completely blocking light from the
reaction system. Figure 8 shows typical TEM images of the
sample prepared in the absence of light, from which we cannot
find distinct morphological difference as compared with the
normal synthesis. This result suggests that light is not indis-
pensable for the formation of nanoplates in the case of Pd.
Optical Properties of the Pd Triangular and Hexagonal
Nanoplates. The nanoplates are supposed to exhibit SPR
features different from those of cubooctahedra or twinned
nanoparticles. Figure 9A shows UV-vis extinction spectra taken
from aqueous suspensions of the Pd triangular and hexagonal
nanoplates; their SPR peaks were located at 520 and 530 nm,
respectively. To understand these features, we calculated the
spectra using the DDA method. Figure 9B shows the extinction
(Qext), absorption (Qabs), and scattering (Qsca) coefficients (note
that Qext ) Qabs + Qsca) of a Pd triangular nanoplates of 28 nm
in edge length and 5 nm in thickness.11 The location of the
calculated peak matches with the experimentally measured
spectrum, albeit the nanoplates seem to display a sharper SPR
peak than what is predicted by DDA calculation. Since the
polydispersity of as-synthesized samples usually results in
broader SPR peaks than those predicted by DDA calculations,
the somewhat narrowing of the SPR peaks of Pd nanoplates
represents an unusual feature that deserves further investigation.
Note that the SPR peaks of Pd nanostructures are all relatively
broad, which can be attributed to the dielectric function of Pd.16
(27) Sun, Y.; Mayers, B.; Herricks, T.; Xia, Y. Nano Lett. 2003, 3, 955.
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A R T I C L E S
Xiong et al.
Figure 10. Raman spectra of 4-mercaptopyridine molecules that were
adsorbed on Pd triangular nanoplates, hexagonal nanoplates, and 8-nm
cuboctahedra.
have obtained the SERS spectra of 4-mercaptopyridine on Pd
triangular and hexagonal nanoplates, in comparison with 8-nm
Pd cubooctahedra. As shown in Figure 10, well-resolved SERS
spectra could be readily obtained from both Pd triangular and
hexagonal nanoplates. In comparison with the spectrum of 8-nm
Pd cubooctahedra, the magnitude of signals from triangular and
hexagonal nanoplates was 4.3 and 3.4 times stronger. These
results indicate that Pd nanoplates are especially active substrates
for the SERS detection of molecular species, which is most
likely related to the red-shift of SPR peaks, as well as their
sharp corners and edges. We expect that these well-defined Pd
nanostructures will help to advance the use of Pd in various
SERS-related applications.
Conclusion
In summary, we have demonstrated a new strategy for the
selective synthesis of Pd triangular and hexagonal nanoplates
by manipulating the reduction kinetics of a polyol process.
Although rapid reduction of Na2PdCl4 by EG in the presence
of PVP usually generates thermodynamically favored Pd
cubooctahedra and twinned nanoparticles, addition of FeCl3 and
HCl could greatly slow the reduction and thus induce the
formation of Pd nanoplates. Unlike the previously reported cases
of Ag and Au, light was found to play a minor role in the
formation of Pd nanoplates.
Since the SPR peaks of Pd nanoparticles less than 10 nm in
size are located in the UV region, the SPR properties of Pd
nanostructures remain largely unexplored. Here it was demon-
strated for the first time that the Pd nanoplates exhibited SPR
peaks in the visible region, and their locations were consistent
with the results of DDA calculation. Thanks to their sharp
corners and edges, the Pd nanoplates were active Pd substrates
for SERS detection. It is worth pointing out that the exceptional
chemical sensitivity of Pd toward hydrogen should make these
Pd nanoplates especially useful for hydrogen storage and SPR-
based sensing of hydrogen gas.14a,30 In addition, these Pd
nanoplates might also find use as catalysts, photothermal heating
Figure 9. (A) UV-vis extinction spectra of the as-prepared triangular and
hexagonal nanoplates shown in Figures 1B and 3C, respectively. (B) The
extinction, absorption, and scattering coefficients of a triangular nanoplate
as calculated using the DDA method, in which all random configurations
of the plate with respect to the incident light were averaged. The optical
coefficients were defined as C/πReff2 (with C being cross sections obtained
directly from DDA calculation and with Reff being defined through the
concept of an effective volume equal to 4πReff3/3 for the plate).
Another contribution to the broadening of peaks originates from
the thin thicknesses of the plates. As shown in Figure S2, the
SPR peak position is dependent on the directions of incident
light and electric field polarization relative to the triangular plate.
When the field polarization direction is perpendicular to the
plate plane, the plate behaves like a regular small spherical
particle, whose extinction peak is located in the UV region. In
contrast, when the field polarization is parallel to the plate plane,
there is a new extinction peak around 520 nm. Considering all
random configurations of the plate with respect to the incident
light, the SPR peak over the entire spectrum becomes very
broad. It is also interesting to note that the scattering coefficient
of a Pd triangular nanoplate is negligibly small because the plate
is extremely thin. The exceptional wide range of wavelengths
across which Pd nanoplates strongly absorb light should make
them potentially useful as nanoscale photothermal heating
elements.28
(28) Hirsch, L. R.; Stafford, R. J.; Bankson, J. A.; Sershen, S. R.; Rivera, B.;
Price, R. E.; Hazle, J. D.; Halas, N. J. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2003,
100, 13549.
(29) (a) Zou, S.; Weaver, M. J. J. Phys. Chem. 1996, 100, 4237. (b) Srnova´, I.;
Vle`kova´, B.; Baumruk, V. J. Mol. Struct. 1997, 410, 201. (c) Tian, Z.-Q.;
Ren, B.; Wu, D.-Y. J. Phys. Chem. B 2002, 106, 9463. (d) Go´mez, R.;
Pe´rez, J. M.; Solla-Gullo´n, J.; Montiel, V.; Aldaz, A. J. Phys. Chem. B
2004, 108, 9943.
(30) Sun, Y.; Tao, Z.; Chen, J.; Herricks, T.; Xia, Y. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004,
126, 5940.
The Pd nanoplates with well-defined surfaces might serve
as ideal substrates for studying the compositional dependence
of oxidation, adsorption, and ligand formation on Pd via SERS.29
As an initial study of the SERS activities of these particles, we
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Triangular and Hexagonal Nanoplates of Palladium
A R T I C L E S
elements, absorption contrast agents, and chemically specific
optical sensors.
and Lucile Packard Foundation. Y.X. is a Camille Dreyfus
Teacher Scholar (2002-2007). Y.Y. was supported by the
Director, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy, under
Contract DE-AC03-76SF00098. Z.-Y.L. has been supported by
the National Key Basic Research Special Foundation of China
(Grant No. 2004CB719804). This work used the Nanotech User
Facility (NTUF), a member of the National Nanotechnology
Infrastructure Network (NNIN) funded by the NSF. We thank
the Molecular Foundry at the Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory for HRTEM analysis.
The present work has clearly established that the introduction
of an oxidant into the synthesis of metal nanoparticles can
effectively control their nucleation and growth into well-defined
sizes and shapes. By combining oxidative etching with the
polyol synthesis of Pd nanoparticles, we have achieved selective
removal of multiple twinned particles,20 control of the size of
slightly truncated nanocubes,16a and deterministic synthesis of
triangular and hexagonal nanoplates. Although modification to
experimental conditions might be required for different metals,
it is expected that the level of shape control that has been
realized for Pd should be directly extendible to other metals, as
well as the tailoring of properties associated with these metal
nanostructures.
Supporting Information Available: Figures showing powder
XRD patterns of the as-prepared triangular nanoplates and
extinction, absorption, and scattering coefficients of a triangular
nanoplate calculated using the DDA method with six different
configurations. This material is available free of charge via the
Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.
Acknowledgment. This work was supported in part by a grant
from the NSF (DMR-0451788), a DARPA-DURINT subcon-
tract from Harvard University, and a fellowship from the David
JA056498S
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