Controlled Synthesis of 2-D and 3-D Dendritic Platinum Nanostructures

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja037474t

Seeding and autocatalytic reduction of platinum salts in aqueous surfactant solution using ascorbic acid as the reductant leads to remarkable dendritic metal nanostructures. In micellar surfactant solutions, spherical dendritic metal nanostructures are obtained, and the smallest of these nanodendrites resemble assemblies of joined nanoparticles and the nanodendrites are single crystals. With liposomes as the template, dendritic platinum sheets in the form of thin circular disks or solid foamlike nanomaterials can be made. Synthetic control over the morphology of these nanodendrites, nanosheets, and nanostructured foams is realized by using a tin-porphyrin photocatalyst to conveniently and effectively produce a large initial population of catalytic growth centers. The concentration of seed particles determines the ultimate average size and uniformity of these novel two- and three-dimensional platinum nanostructures.

Full text of DOI:10.1021/ja037474t

Published on Web 12/23/2003
Controlled Synthesis of 2-D and 3-D Dendritic Platinum
Nanostructures
Yujiang Song,†,‡ Yi Yang,†,‡ Craig J. Medforth,† Eulalia Pereira,†,§ Anup K. Singh,†
Huifang Xu,‡ Yingbing Jiang,‡ C. Jeffrey Brinker,†,‡ Frank van Swol,†,‡ and
John A. Shelnutt*,†,
Contribution from the AdVanced Materials Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories,
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106, Departments of Chemistry, Chemical and Nuclear
Engineering, and Earth and Planetary Sciences, UniVersity of New Mexico,
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, CEQUP/Departamento de Quimica, Faculdade de Ciencias,
UniVersidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal, and Department of Chemistry,
UniVersity of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602
Received July 22, 2003; E-mail: jasheln@unm.edu
Abstract: Seeding and autocatalytic reduction of platinum salts in aqueous surfactant solution using ascorbic
acid as the reductant leads to remarkable dendritic metal nanostructures. In micellar surfactant solutions,
spherical dendritic metal nanostructures are obtained, and the smallest of these nanodendrites resemble
assemblies of joined nanoparticles and the nanodendrites are single crystals. With liposomes as the template,
dendritic platinum sheets in the form of thin circular disks or solid foamlike nanomaterials can be made.
Synthetic control over the morphology of these nanodendrites, nanosheets, and nanostructured foams is
realized by using a tin-porphyrin photocatalyst to conveniently and effectively produce a large initial population
of catalytic growth centers. The concentration of seed particles determines the ultimate average size and
uniformity of these novel two- and three-dimensional platinum nanostructures.
other nanostructures such as wires22,23 and sheets.24 Nanostruc-
tured platinum is of particular interest for many applications,
Introduction
Metal nanostructures are of considerable interest because of
their importance in catalysis,1 photochemistry,2 sensors,3 tag-
ging,4 and optical,5 electronic,5 and magnetic devices.3,6 Metal
nanostructures have been synthesized in many forms, ranging
from conventional metal colloids3,5 to modern near-monodis-
persed nanoclusters,7-16 shape-controlled nanocrystals,17-21 and
including catalysis,2,17,25 sensors,26 and other devices.25,27-29
While a few platinum nanostructures have been reported,
including nanoparticles,17,18 nanowires,22,23 nanosheets,24 and
others,30-33 the synthesis of additional types of nanostructures
is highly desirable and potentially technologically important.
New methods for the synthesis of metal nanostructures are
important for providing the reproducibility and control over
† Sandia National Laboratories.
‡ University of New Mexico.
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1996, 8, 1161-1163.
§ Universidade do Porto.
University of Georgia.
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J. AM. CHEM. SOC. 2004, 126, 635-645
635

A R T I C L E S
Song et al.
Chart 1. Structures of the Porphyrin Photocatalysts and
properties required for advanced technological applications. A
recognized goal of these new synthetic approaches is to achieve
control over the composition, size, surface species, solubility,
stability, isolability, and other functional properties of the
nanostructures.11 For example, a mechanism consisting of
nanoparticle seeding followed by fast autocatalytic surface
growth gives nearly monodisperse nanoclusters for a variety of
metals.7-10,16,19,20,34-36 Thus, nearly monodisperse nanoclusters
of iridium have been attained by H2 reduction of iridium
salts.12-15 Copper nanoparticles of controlled shape and size
were prepared in solution without any capping agent or template
by seeding and subsequent reduction of copper ions by ascorbate
at the particle surfaces.20 Particle size was selected by varying
the ratio of copper seed particles to copper ion concentration.
Shape-controlled platinum nanocrystals17,21 have been synthe-
sized using a capping polymer material, giving mixtures of
tetrahedral, cubic, irregular-prismatic, icosahedral, and cubo-
octahedral nanoparticles.17 The shapes produced are determined
by interfacially directed control over the relative growth rates
of different crystalline faces. Nanosheets have been produced
by reduction of platinum chloride intercalation compounds
confined between graphite layers.24,37
Surfactants.
Herein, we describe a method of synthesis that leads to novel
types of fractal-shaped platinum nanostructures of controlled
sizes. This synthetic method is based on a seeding and fast
autocatalytic growth approach in which an aqueous solution of
platinum salts is reduced by ascorbic acid in the presence of
surfactant. The seeding/autocatalytic approach employed by us
in the present study produces nanodendrites, which grow by
interfacially directed autocatalytic reduction of platinum onto
the platinum nanoparticle seeds. To our knowledge, metallic
platinum nanodendrites have not been made previously by
autocatalytic growth or by any similar approach. (Platinum
dendrites of considerably different morphology have been grown
from lithium tetraborate melts by the Czochralski method.33 The
present approach is different from the conventional growth of
dendrites by diffusion-limited crystallization of metals or by
the Czochralski method.)
obtained by the photocatalytic synthetic method are functional
catalytic/photocatalytic units capable of H2 evolution from water.
Materials and Methods.
Materials. Potassium tetrachloroplatinate(II) (K2PtCl4; 99.99%),
L-ascorbic acid (99+%), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), polyoxyeth-
ylene (23) lauryl ether (Brij-35), 1,2-dioctadecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-
phosphocholine (DSPC, 99%), and cholesterol (99+%) were of the
highest purity available and were used as received from Sigma-Aldrich
(St. Louis, MO). Sn(IV) octaethylporphyrin dichloride (SnOEP) and
Sn(IV) uroporphyrin I (SnUroP) were obtained from Porphyrin Products
(Logan, UT) and used without further purification. The chemical
structures of the surfactants and porphyrin photocatalysts are shown
in Chart 1. Sn and Ni tetra(N-methylpyridinium)porphyrin (T(N-Me-
Py)P) were also obtained from Porphyrin Products and used as obtained
(structures not shown). All aqueous solutions were prepared with
ultrapure water from a Barnstead Nanopure water system (Chesterland,
OH).
In the case of micellar solutions, the new synthesis yields
three-dimensional metallic platinum nanodendrites of diameters
ranging from 6 to 200 nm. When large liposomes are used,
dendritic disklike nanosheets or dendritic sheets in the form of
solid foamlike nanomaterials are produced depending on the
experimental conditions, indicating a templating effect of the
surfactant assembly. Control over the size of these dendritic
nanostructures is conveniently realized by using a tin-porphyrin
photocatalyst to rapidly generate an initial population of growth
centers. In the case of the three-dimensional nanodendrites, this
photocatalytic seeding approach can be used to produce nano-
structures with average sizes in the range 10-50 nm and narrow
size distributions. The effects of light exposure and photocatalyst
concentration on the size of the nanodendrites are evaluated in
detail, and these studies are crucial in verifying the proposed
seeding/autocatalytic growth mechanism. Finally, it is demon-
strated that the small three-dimensional platinum nanodendrites
Preparation of Reactant and Surfactant Solutions. Platinum(II)
solution was prepared by dissolving K2PtCl4 in water under ambient
condition and was aged at least 24 h before use. Aging the platinum
solution disproportionates the complex into an equilibrium mixture of
42% Pt(H2O)2Cl2, 53% Pt(H2O)Cl3-, and 5% PtCl42- 38 SDS (80 mM)
.
or Brij-35 (1 mM) micellar stock solutions were prepared by dissolving
SDS or Brij-35 in water with mild sonication. The porphyrin-saturated
surfactant solutions were prepared by dissolving SnOEP in these SDS
or Brij-35 solutions using mild sonication. Undissolved suspended
SnOEP was filtered off using a 200 nm pore filter (VWR Scientific
Products, West Chester, PA), and this porphyrin stock solution (10-
175 µM in SnOEP and 80 mM in SDS or 1 mM in Brij-35) was diluted
to the desired concentration for use in the reaction. Solutions of nickel-
(II) and tin(IV) T(N-Me-Py)P were prepared in a similar manner. The
ascorbic acid solution was freshly prepared because of its gradual
oxidation in air; the oxidation is evidenced by the decrease in the
ascorbic acid UV absorption bands (see Figure S1 of the Supporting
Information and the discussion below).
(34) Jana, N. R.; Gearheart, L.; Murphy, C. J. Chem. Mater. 2001, 13, 2313-
2322.
Multilamellar vesicles with different sizes were prepared by intense
sonication of an 8 mM DSPC aqueous solution containing ascorbic
(35) Jana, N. R.; Pal, T. Curr. Sci. 1998, 75, 145-149.
(36) Sau, T. K.; Pal, A.; Jana, N. R.; Wang, Z. L.; Pal, T. J. Nanopart. Res.
2001, 3, 257-261.
(38) Ciacchi, L. C.; Pompe, W.; De Vita, A. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123,
7371-7380.
(37) Shirai, M.; Igeta, K.; Arai, M. J. Phys. Chem. B 2001, 105, 7211-7215.
9
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Synthesis of Metallic Platinum Nanodendrites
A R T I C L E S
acid (150 mM) using a Misonix ultrasonic processor XL (Farmingdale,
NY). Unilamellar liposomes with a composition of 1:1 DSPC/
cholesterol mole ratio were prepared by an extrusion procedure. Stock
solutions typically at a concentration of 10 mg/mL of lipids were
prepared in 9:1 chloroform/methanol (v/v). Mixtures of various lipids
amounting to 10 µmol total were added to a round-bottomed flask.
The flask was connected to a rotary evaporator and dried at 60 °C for
1.5 h to form a thin lipid film on the inside wall of the flask. The dried
lipid layer was then hydrated in 3 mL of filtered and degassed water
or aqueous 150 mM ascorbic acid for 1 h at 65 °C to form multilamellar
liposomes. The multilamellar liposomes were sonicated briefly in a
bath sonicator to reduce the average size of liposomes and then extruded
through a 100 nm pore polycarbonate membrane in a pneumatic
liposome extruder (Liposofast, Avestin, Ontario, Canada). Liposomes
were extruded 31 times to ensure uniform size distribution. The resulting
unilamellar liposome suspension was centrifuged for 20 min at 3000g
to remove residual multilamellar liposomes and aggregated lipids.
Liposome solutions in water and in aqueous ascorbic acid were prepared
both with and without 333 nM SnOEP.
mixed and irradiated with incandescent light for 30 min. For some of
the solutions the DSPC liposomes also contained SnOEP. The reaction
solution turned black during irradiation at a slower rate than the micellar
reactions, with the reaction rate depending on the intensity of irradiation
and size of the surfactant assembly.
Characterization of Platinum Nanomaterials. Transmission elec-
tron microscopy (TEM, 200 keV JEOL 2010), high-resolution TEM
(HRTEM), high-angle annular dark-field (HAADF) scanning TEM (200
keV JEOL 2010F), selected-area electron diffraction, and energy-
dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were performed on the nanostructures.
The samples for TEM analysis were prepared by adding drops of
colloidal solutions onto standard holey carbon-coated copper grids. The
excess solvent was wicked away with a filter paper, and the grids were
dried in air.
Dynamic light scattering measurements to determine the size of the
platinum nanostructures in solutions were performed with a Beckman
Coulter N4+ or N5 submicron particle size analyzer. The scattering
angle was 90°, and the intensity autocorrelation functions were fitted
using PCS control software to derive hydrodynamic diameters. UV-
visible absorption spectra were obtained with a HP8452A diode array
spectrophotometer (Colorado Springs, CO) using a 1 mm path length
quartz cell.
Characterization of the Surfactant Assemblies. The liposomes
were characterized by determining the hydrodynamic diameter of the
liposome in solution, estimated using a quasi-elastic light scattering
(QELS) apparatus (Brookhaven Instruments, Holtsville, NY, or Beck-
man-Coulter, Hialeach, FL). The liposomal solutions (50 µL) were
diluted in 1.5 mL of freshly filtered solution in a polypropylene cuvette
and placed in the QELS apparatus. The measurement was performed
at 90° scattering angle, and the QELS data were analyzed using the
constrained regularization (CONTIN) method to obtain a mean diameter
and distribution. The hydrodynamic diameters obtained for the unila-
mellar liposomes from the dynamic light scattering measurements were
161.6 nm for the porphyrin-containing liposomes and 175.1 nm for
the control porphyrin-free liposomes. Zeta potentials of the liposome
solutions were measured by electrophoretic light scattering. Liposomes
were diluted in a 10 mM KCl solution for the measurement of the zeta
potentials; the zeta potential was -1.55 ( 0.65 mV.
Hydrogen Evolution Measurements. The solution for the H2
evolution reaction contained ascorbic acid (60 or 200 mM) and the
highly diluted product of the photocatalyzed reactions producing
platinum nanodendrites (6.5 or 65 µM in Pt). (The nanodendrites
produced in these reactions are similar to those shown in the TEM
image of Figure 4b.) SnUroP was also added to a final concentration
of 80 µM for improved light-harvesting function. The volume of the
liquid sample in the vessel was 2.5 mL. The reaction vessel consisted
of a 6 in. round-bottom Pyrex tube 0.75 in. in diameter that was sealed
with a rubber septum. The reaction vessel was irradiated with a tungsten
light source (800 nmol cm-2 -s-1 at the vessel), and samples were
removed periodically for analysis. All reactions were run under an argon
atmosphere.
The size of the multilamellar DSPC vesicles in solutions was
determined by dynamic light scattering measurements using a Beckman
Coulter N5 submicron particle size analyzer with a 25 mW He-Ne
laser (632.8 nm). The scattering angle was 90°, and the intensity
autocorrelation functions were fitted using PCS control software
(Version 2.02) to derive hydrodynamic diameters. Average vesicle
diameters produced ranged from 57 to 400 nm by QELS measurements
depending on the sonication times.
Gas chromatography (GC) (HP 5890 Series II instrument controlled
by HP ChemStation, version A0701 software, Gaithersburg, MD) was
used to quantify the H2 gas produced photocatalytically by the platinum
nanostructures. The GC instrument was calibrated immediately before
the measurements by adding known amounts of H2 to a control reaction
mixture. All gas samples (typically 100 µL) were extracted from the
void volume of reaction vessel and were manually injected with a
syringe onto a 100/120 Carbosieve SII column (10 feet length, 1/8 in.
width) and carried by argon at a constant flow rate of 100 cm3 min-1
to a thermal conductivity detector operating at 110 °C. The retention
time for hydrogen was about 1.4 min.
Synthesis of Platinum Nanostructures. In a typical synthesis using
micellar solutions, 0.125 mL of the aqueous stock solution containing
SDS (80 mM) or Brij-35 (1.0 mM) micelles was added to a glass
reaction vessel. To this solution was added SnOEP to the desired
concentration (0-35 µM) by making microliter-scale additions from
the porphyrin-surfactant stock solutions. Then, 0.25 mL of the Pt salt
solution (20 mM) and 0.25 mL of an ascorbic acid solution (150 mM;
containing the surfactant at the same concentrations given above) were
added stepwise to the reaction vessel. The pH of this reaction solution
was 3.0. The reaction vessel containing the solution was irradiated with
incandescent light (800 nmol cm-2 s-1) for 30 min. The light intensity
was measured with a Hansatech Instruments (Norfolk, England)
Quantitherm light meter thermometer; intensities range from ambient
room light (0.5-2.0 nmol cm-2 s-1) to intense incandescent irradiation
from a projector (800 nmol cm-2 s-1). At the highest intensities, some
heating from the light source occurred, but controlled temperature
studies showed that the heating had negligible effect on the platinum
nanostructure product. The color of the reaction solution changed within
10 min from transparent light brownish-yellow (from the Pt complex)
to brownish-gray to opaque black.
Results and Discussion.
Nanostructures Obtained by Ascorbic Acid Reduction of
Platinum in the Presence of Surfactant. In the absence of
surfactant, the reduction of platinum salts by ascorbic acid occurs
in minutes and results in macroscopic pieces of platinum metal
that settle out within 10 min. However, reduction in the presence
of large unilamellar liposomes has a dramatic effect on the
morphology of the platinum obtained from the reaction. When
160 nm diameter unilamellar distearoyl-phosphatidylcholine
(DSPC; see Chart 1) liposomes are used in the reaction, TEM
images of the product exhibit the two-dimensional circular
nanostructures shown in Figure 1. Both electron diffraction (inset
of Figure 1) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectra (Figure S2a)
of dried samples confirm that the nanostructures observed are
composed of platinum. The thickness of the interior portion of
the nanosheets can be estimated from the platinum thickness at
the particle-like tips of the circular nanosheets (∼3 nm),
In a typical synthesis of the liposome-templated nanostructures,
similar volumes of the aqueous solutions containing DSPC/cholesterol
liposomes, aged Pt complex (8 mM), and ascorbic acid (60 mM) were
9
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A R T I C L E S
Song et al.
only single particles are allowed to diffuse by Brownian motion
(1.7) and considerably different from cases in which particle
clusters can diffuse (1.4) or particle motion is linear.42,43 In the
present case, metal atoms are not thought to diffuse, but there
is a diffusion-limited process in which ascorbic acid and Pt
complex diffuse to the surface of the growing metal dendrite
and react (see discussion below).
The circular nanosheets are most likely templated by the
liposomal surface, possibly on the surface as illustrated in Figure
1a or within the bilayer. Another intriguing possibility is that
the nanosheet starts to grow on a liposome, then sticks to another
liposome and continues to grow at the interface between the
two liposomes. In this case, reactants would be available for
growth only by diffusion into the interfacial region between
the two liposomes, and thus reactants would be preferentially
available to the tips of the dendrite.
Large (∼100-500 nm) multilamellar vesicles of DSPC also
serve as templates for producing the Pt nanosheets. Interestingly,
changing the size of these vesicles at a constant DSPC
concentration by sonication alters the morphology of the
platinum nanostructure obtained from the subsequent reaction.
For example, with small vesicles (57 nm) prepared by intense
sonication of the large multilayer vesicles, the reaction gives
nanoparticle groupings and only a few small poorly formed
dendritic nanosheets. This result suggests that it is the curvature
of the surfactant assembly that determines the dimensionality
of the dendrites. Apparently, the surface curvature of the small
vesicles is too great to support Pt growth in sheets, consistent
with a templating role for the large liposomes as discussed in
more detail below.
The detailed structure of the circular nanosheets is revealed
by high-resolution TEM images and electron diffraction. The
electron diffraction pattern of the nanosheet in Figure 1c is
shown in the inset; it indicates that metal growth occurs in
essentially the same crystallographic orientation throughout the
dendrite. Crystal bending can be seen directly in the lattice
fringing of high-resolution images (Figure S3 of the Supporting
Information), thus crystal bending and an occasional low-angle
grain boundary account for the elongated points of the electron
diffraction pattern in the inset in Figure 1. The directions of
the crystallographic axes vary by up to 10° based on the
elongation of the points in the diffraction pattern.
The two-dimensional platinum nanostructures take on a
different form when they are prepared under different conditions.
When the liposomes are prepared in water rather than an
ascorbic acid solution and then added to an ascorbic acid
solution (60 mM) for the platinum reduction reaction, the
platinum produced appears as balls of dendritic nanosheets (see
Figure 2). These porous wads of nanosheets are not observed
when the liposomes are prepared in ascorbic acid; instead, the
reaction gives mostly the circular nanosheets shown in Figure
1. For the liposomes prepared in water, differences in chemical
potential between the water on the inside of the liposome and
the solution of ascorbic acid and Pt salt on the outside of the
liposome likely disrupt the normal liposomal structure and cause
aggregation, giving rise to the foamlike Pt material observed
in the TEM images.
Figure 1. Dendritic platinum circular nanosheets templated by liposomes.
(a) Illustration of the growth of Pt nanosheets on the liposomal surface;
other possible growth mechanisms are discussed in the text. (b) HAADF
scanning TEM image of three platinum circular nanosheets grown on 160
nm diameter DSPC liposomes. (c) TEM image of a large dendritic Pt
nanosheet made using DSPC liposomes and (inset) its electron diffraction
pattern. The surfactant assemblies cannot be seen in the TEM images
because of the lack of contrast with the much denser Pt and the interference
from the carbon film of the TEM grid.
suggesting the sheets are approximately 2 nm thick.39 Scanning
TEM using a high-angle annular dark-field (HAADF) detector
allows one to image nanostructures as small as single atoms
using the electrons scattered to high angle.40 HAADF has many
advantages,41 but in this work we take advantage of HAADF
to provide the z-density projection of the nanostructures for
profile imaging. Density profiles (not shown) obtained from the
scanning TEM HAADF images (Figure 1b) show that the arms
of the dendrites generally have a uniform thickness, except at
the tips. The platinum nanosheets are obtained in varying
diameters, but nanodendrites of more uniform diameter can be
obtained by initially seeding the reaction with 3 nm platinum
particles or by in situ photocatalytic generation of Pt seed
particles as described below.
Figures 1b and 1c show that these two-dimensional nanosheets
are unmistakably dendritic. The fractal dimensions of these
nanosheets were obtained by analysis of the TEM images of
10 of the two-dimensional dendrites such as that shown in Figure
1 using the programs Fractal Dimension Version 1.1 (http://
polymer.bu.edu/ogaf/html/software.htm) and Fractal Dimension
Calculator (http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/∼pbourke/fractals/
fracdim/). The average fractal dimension is 1.73 ( 0.08 when
analyzed using the box-counting method with the box size varied
over two decades. This value of the fractal dimension is typical
of computer simulations of two-dimensional aggregation when
(39) We are aware of only one other clear example of the preparation of platinum
nanosheets. Shirai et al. (ref 24) have obtained platinum sheets of a thickness
of 2-3 nm by confined growth between layers of graphite by hydrogen
reduction of platinum chloride intercalation compounds. These nanosheets
contain hexagonal holes in an uncontrolled pattern and, in contrast with
those observed in the present work, are not dendritic in nature.
(40) Crewe, A. V. Chem. Scr. 1979, 14, 17-20.
(42) Witten, T. A.; Sander, L. M. Phys. ReV. Lett. 1981, 47, 1400-1403.
(43) Hurd, A. J. In Physics of Complex and Supermolecular Fluids; Safran, S.
A., Clark, N. A., Eds.; John Wiley & Sons: New York, 1987; pp 493-
507.
(41) Wang, Z. L. AdV. Mater. 2003, 13, 1497-1514.
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Synthesis of Metallic Platinum Nanodendrites
A R T I C L E S
images (Figure 3b). As shown by the inset of Figure 3b, the
spherical nanodendrites superficially resemble nanoscale ver-
sions of common toys called “Koosh balls” (although Koosh
balls are not dendritic). All of the reduced platinum found on
the TEM grids is in the form of these spherical nanodendrites.
It is likely that the nanostructures shown in Figure 3 are three-
dimensional analogues of the circular nanosheets shown in
Figure 1.
Mechanism of Nanodendrite Growth and Control of
Nanostructure Size. Key goals in the synthesis of metal
nanostructures are that the synthesis gives nanostructures of a
specific size and size distribution and that the synthesis is
reproducible.11 To gain control of the synthesis, it was necessary
to understand the mechanism by which the nanostructures are
formed. A mechanism based on slow, continuous nucleation
(seeding) and fast autocatalytic growth has previously been used
to explain the growth of metallic nanoparticles.13 A related
mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of the platinum
nanodendrites in the present work.
Figure 2. Foamlike balls composed of platinum nanosheets and their
aggregates.
In the seeding/autocatalytic growth mechanism, slow chemical
reduction of Pt ions by ascorbic acid occurs to give Pt-
nanoparticle growth centers (seeds) at very low concentration
by the simplified redox reaction:
Pt2 + + AA f Pt0 + AAox
When these seeds reach a certain size (∼500 atoms), the Pt
nanoparticles apparently become autocatalytic for the platinum
reduction reaction.45,46 The seed particles then rapidly grow into
the mature nanostructures shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3 as the
autocatalytic reduction exhausts the available platinum complex.
For the nanostructures shown in Figure 3, the slow, continu-
ous formation of seed nanoparticles over the entire reaction time
leads to a large average size for the nanostructures and a broad
size distribution. The latter is due to the variation in the
autocatalytic growth period for seed particles produced at
different times. Consistent with this mechanism, smaller and
more uniform three-dimensional nanostructures are obtained if
the micellar reaction solution is initially seeded with ∼3 nm Pt
nanoparticles preprepared by standard methods;47 these seeds
have equal autocatalytic growth times and thus yield small
uniform sized nanostructures. So, although the autocatalytic
growth is uncontrolled, the size and size distribution of the
nanostructures can be controlled by various seeding strategies.
Photocatalytic Seeding Studies. An easy, precise, and
practicable method for producing a large initial concentration
of seeds for controlling the size and uniformity of the nano-
structures is to use a photocatalyst and light to rapidly generate
the growth centers in situ. This method provides a broad range
of possible seed concentrations and rates of formation allowing
precise control over the size of the nanostructures. Another
potential advantage of the photocatalytic seeding method is that
the seed particles, and thus the platinum nanostructure, may be
placed at a desired location by pre-positioning the photocatalyst
molecules. In the present example, a hydrophobic photocatalyst
Figure 3. (a) TEM image of nanodendrites produced with Brij-35 surfactant
in the absence of photocatalyst and (inset) the electron diffraction pattern
of a group of the dendrites indicating that they are composed of platinum
metal and as a group are polycrystalline. (b) HAADF scanning TEM image
of the three-dimensional platinum dendrites grown in the presence of Brij-
35 micelles. Inset: a Koosh ball.
The platinum nanostructures obtained in the presence of small
surfactant assemblies were further examined using SDS and Brij-
35 micelles. Although reduction of the platinum complex
proceeds on a time scale similar to that for the circular
nanosheets (<30 min), the product obtained has an entirely
different morphology (see Figure 3).44 Bright field TEM images
of the reduction product reveal platinum nanostructures that
appear to be dendritic but that are now three-dimensional (Figure
3a). The dendritic nature of the nanostructures is more evident
in the high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) scanning TEM
(45) In the case of platinum-catalyzed hydrogen evolution, the limiting minimum
size for the Pt particle to become catalytic was determined to be as few as
50 atoms, and a stable catalytic particle was created at about 500 atoms.
See ref 46.
(44) Both electron diffraction (inset of Figure 3a) and energy-dispersive X-ray
spectra (Figure S2b) of dried samples again confirm that the nanostructures
observed are composed of platinum.
(46) Greenbaum, E. J. Phys. Chem. 1988, 92, 4571-4574.
(47) Furlong, D. N.; Launikonis, A.; Sasse, W. H. F.; Sanders, J. V. J. Chem.
Soc., Faraday Trans. 1984, 80, 571-588.
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A R T I C L E S
Song et al.
Figure 4. TEM images of platinum nanostructures produced in the presence of SDS without (a) and with (b) photocatalyst and their respective size distributions
(insets). Average diameters were measured for 100 nanostructures, and their frequencies are plotted in the inset graphs. The average size and the standard
deviations are given in the plots, along with the percentage ratio of the standard deviation to average size.
molecule is positioned within the interior of a micelle or within
the bilayer of a liposome (as illustrated by the example in Figure
1a) and is used to initiate seed and thus nanostructure growth.
The photocatalyst chosen to generate seeds is a tin(IV)-
porphyrin complex (SnP), examples of which are shown in Chart
1. The photocatalytic reduction of platinum salts by the SnP is
accomplished in the presence of visible light and an electron
donor (ED), ascorbic acid in this case. The SnP photoreaction
is a reductive photocatalytic cycle, which has been used
previously in the photosynthesis of reduced methyl viologen
and to evolve H2 in the presence of colloidal Pt.48-50 In the
present photoreaction, Pt2+ is reduced as described by the
following simplified equations:
photocycle is reductive because the initial electron-transfer event
is the reduction of the porphyrin anion by the ED.
To investigate the potential of this photocatalytic seeding
method, hydrophobic SnOEP (optical studies suggest the
chloride axial ligands are displaced in aqueous solution) was
included in an SDS micellar reaction mixture in catalytic
amounts (∼1 µM). Although SnOEP is very slightly soluble in
water without surfactant, its solubility is much greater in
surfactant solutions, indicating that the SnOEP molecules are
associated with surfactant assemblies. After exposure to intense
incandescent light (0.8 µmol cm-2 s-1) for several minutes, the
reaction solution turned black in nearly the same length of time
that was observed in the absence of the photocatalyst. However,
compared to the nanostructures obtained in the absence of
photocatalyst (Figure 4a), the product now consists of small
strikingly uniform Pt nanostructures (Figure 4b). To demonstrate
that the photocatalytic property of the porphyrin causes the size
change rather than the presence of the porphyrin molecule, it
was shown that another tin porphyrin, SnT(N-Me-Py)P, had the
same effect on nanostructure size as SnOEP. In addition, when
the nickel derivative (NiT(N-Me-Py)P), which is photochemi-
cally inactive, was substituted in the reaction, it was found to
have no effect on the average size or distribution.
SnP + hν f SnP*
SnP* + ED f SnP-• + EDox
2SnP-• + Pt2+ f 2SnP + Pt0
Absorption of visible or UV light by the SnP yields the long-
lived excited triplet π-π* state, SnP*, which is rapidly reduced
(SnP*/SnP-•, +1.1 V, calculated by adding the triplet state
energy to the potential for SnP/SnP-•) by an ED such as ascorbic
acid. The product is a long-lived51 radical anion, SnP-•, which
is a strong reductant (SnP/SnP-•, -0.66 V) capable of efficiently
reducing a variety of metal ions including Ag, Au, Hg, Pb, Cu,
and Pt to the zerovalent metals.52 Reduction of the metal
regenerates neutral SnP, which again becomes available to
absorb light and initiate a successive photochemical cycle. The
Based on TEM images such as those in Figure 4b, Figure S4
of the Supporting Information, and the rotated TEM images
shown in Figure 5, the nanostructures generated in the photo-
catalytically seeded reaction are approximately spherical in
shape. Measurements of the nanostructures in the TEM images
give an average diameter of 11.8 ( 1.7 nm. Although they
appear to consist of joined nanoparticles with particle diameters
of 2.9 ( 0.1 nm, a size typical of the particles found in Pt
colloids,47 they are better viewed as “embryonic” dendrites.
Additional growth of these nascent dendrites (Figure 4b) would
then produce the larger nanostructures seen in Figure 4a.
(48) Song, X. Z.; Jia, S. L.; Miura, M.; Ma, J. G.; Shelnutt, J. A. J. Photochem.
Photobiol. 1998, 113, 233-241.
(49) Shelnutt, J. A. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1983, 105, 7179-7180.
(50) Kalyanasundaram, K.; Shelnutt, J. A.; Gratzel, M. Inorg. Chem. 1988, 27,
2820-2825.
(51) Under alkaline conditions, the lifetime of the radical anion is approximately
10 s with triethanolamine as the electron donor.
The insets in Figures 4a and 4b show the respective size
distributions obtained from the TEM images. These verify that
(52) Wang, Z.; Abdelouas, A.; Song, Y.; Gong, W. L.; Lutze, W.; Shelnutt, J.
A. Manuscript in preparation.
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Synthesis of Metallic Platinum Nanodendrites
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A straight line is expected in Figure 6 only if the concentration
of seeds is directly related to the porphyrin concentration, the
principal variable in the data for the plot. Ideally, each porphyrin
makes only one seed, and the seed then becomes catalytic and
gets its share of the Pt as it grows autocatalytically into the
mature nanostructure. The curvature at high SnP concentrations
(low ratios) seen in Figure 6 probably results from light-
shielding effects, which prevent some porphyrins from getting
enough light to generate a seed particle, thus raising the average
nanostructure diameter per porphyrin. For the smallest Pt/SnP
ratio, individual 3 nm nanoparticles are obtained (first data
point). Deviation from linearity in the plot at high ratios is due
to competition from the slow seeding by the uncatalyzed
chemical reduction, which provides additional seeds and lowers
the average diameter. The vertical bars for some of the data
points give the standard deviation of the size distribution; the
distribution is seen to broaden for low SnP concentrations (large
Pt/SnP ratios) because continuous spontaneous seed generation
provides some of the growth centers. Note that the graph
includes some data points that come from different Pt concen-
trations, verifying that only the Pt per growth center is important
in determining the size.
Figure 5. Stereoview generated from rotated TEM images of several
nanodendrites.
For the experiments described in Figure 4, the irradiation with
intense light continues until the reaction is complete (30 min).
However, the photocatalytically generated seeds are produced
during the first few minutes because the reaction mixture turns
black after this time due to the formation of a concentrated
colloid. During this window of opportunity, it is possible to
vary the irradiation time to control the number of seeds and
thus the size of the nanostructures obtained (Figure 7). In these
experiments, the reaction solutions are identical, and intense
light exposure (800 nmol cm-2 s-1) for the specified times is
followed by exposure to ambient room light (0.5-2.0 nmol cm-2
s-1) until the reaction is complete at 30 min total time.
Figure 6. Nanostructure diameter versus the cube root of the Pt-to-
porphyrin molar ratio (a measure of the nanostructure volume per growth
center).
photocatalytic seeding results in a smaller size and a more
uniform size distribution. Specifically, when photocatalyst is
absent, the standard deviation is 42% of the average size (22.6
nm), indicating a lack of size control. When photocatalyst is
present (Figure 4b), the average size is small (11.8 nm) and the
standard deviation is only 14% of the average diameter,
indicating fair uniformity. Dynamic light scattering confirms
that the size difference apparent in the TEM samples in Figure
4 is also present in solution. The diameters measured by light
scattering are 14 nm in the presence of photocatalyst and 62
nm in the absence of photocatalyst. The larger sizes found by
QELS probably results from some aggregation of the nano-
structures in solution.
Figure 7 shows that increasing the initial exposure time from
10 to 90 s gives nanostructures with proportionally smaller
diameters and narrower size distributions, which is completely
consistent with a photocatalytic seeding mechanism. Given that
the SnP concentration is the same for all the experiments, the
number of growth centers generated is proportional to the
exposure time, t. The Pt concentration is also the same in the
reactions (Pt/SnP ) 4000), so the diameter of the nanodendrite
is related to the cube root of the initial Pt concentration divided
by the number of growth centers as discussed above. In other
words, the nanostructure diameter is expected to be proportional
to the cube root of the initial Pt concentration divided by the
exposure time (number of seeds), i.e., ([Pt]0/t)1/3. Obviously this
relationship cannot hold for exposure times longer than 3 min
(small inverse exposure times), because the reaction mixture
turns black and the porphyrins no longer receive light. Similarly,
for short exposure times (large inverse exposure times), the size
is dominated by the spontaneous formation of seeds by slow
chemical reduction. Nonetheless, between these extremes a
linear relationship is observed. As expected, for the shortest
illumination times, slow spontaneous formation of seeds com-
petes with the photocatalytic process, leading to a broad size
distribution (as shown by the “error” bars in the plot in Figure
6). Also as expected, when growth occurs totally in the dark,
the average size and size distribution are essentially the same
as those seen when no photocatalyst is present.
For this type of growth, the average nanostructure size can
be controlled by varying the amount of platinum per initial seed.
That is, the autocatalytic reduction will distribute the Pt atoms
more or less equally onto the growth centers formed by fast
photocatalytic reduction at the beginning of the reaction. One
good way to vary the number of seeds is to vary the porphyrin
concentration; more porphyrins make more seeds and conse-
quently smaller dendrites at a fixed platinum concentration.
Figure 6 shows that the average nanostructure diameter does
indeed decrease with increasing porphyrin and thus seed
concentration when the total platinum is held constant. Thus,
the factor determining the dendrite size in this case is the
platinum-to-porphyrin molar ratio. The diameter of the nano-
dendrites should be related to the cube root of the volume of
platinum available for each seed (assuming a spherical structure),
which in turn is related to the cube root of the Pt-to-porphyrin
molar ratio as shown in Figure 6. Although a linear relationship
is not observed, a direct relationship between the two quantities
is clearly present.
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A R T I C L E S
Song et al.
Figure 7. TEM images of the nanostructures as a function of intense light exposure time and the relationship between the average diameter of the nanostructures
and the cube root of the inverse of the exposure time.
Figure 8. TEM image of the small spherical nanodendrites and a high-resolution TEM image of one of them. The nanostructures are produced by fast
photocatalytic seeding by the SnOEP and subsequent autocatalytic reduction of Pt2+ complex by the seed particles. Each nanodendrite is a single crystal, as
shown by atomic fringing in the TEM image of one of the nanoassemblies. Inset: selected-area Fourier transform pattern of the high-resolution image of
the selected nanostructure. The (111) planes are clearly visible and nearly vertical with a spacing of 0.23 nm.
Porphyrin concentration and light exposure can also be used
to control the size and size distribution of the circular nanosheets
shown in Figure 1. For example, when SnOEP is included in
DSPC liposomes (Figure 1a) even at sub-micromolar concentra-
tions, much smaller and more uniform sized platinum nanosheets
are formed (images not shown).
A more detailed examination of the small nanostructures
shown in Figures 4b revealed crystallographic alignment of
the individual nanoparticles (Figures 8), making the entire
nanostructure one single crystal as expected for dendritic
growth. The crystallinity of the nanodendrites is demon-
strated by the Fourier transform (inset) of the atomic lattice
fringing apparent in the image. Additional evidence for the
crystallinity of the nanostructures is provided in Figure 9,
which shows the TEM image of a group of the small nano-
dendrites and the indexed convergent beam electron diffrac-
tion patterns of seven of the nanodendrites in the image.
These results verify that most of these three-dimensional
nanodendrites are indeed single crystals, as was the case for
The light-dependent and porphyrin-dependent size control
demonstrated in this work explicitly confirms the seeding and
autocatalytic growth mechanism put forward to explain the
uncontrolled growth of the nanostructures obtained when
photocatalyst is not present (Figures 1, 2, and 3). It also rules
out alternative mechanisms for formation of the nanostructures
such as those based on nanoparticle aggregation.
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Synthesis of Metallic Platinum Nanodendrites
A R T I C L E S
Figure 9. High-resolution TEM image showing several labeled nanodendrites and their convergent beam electron diffraction patterns. The electron diffraction
patterns verify that the nanostructures are single crystals and that each nanodendrite has a different orientation on the TEM grid. The indexing gives the
different crystallographic orientations of the individual nanostructures.
Figure 10. TEM images showing the time development of the small nanodendrites. (a) Pt seed particles are formed during the first 30 s under intense
illumination; (b) at 60 s, more seed particles are observed in loose groupings associated with surfactant; (c) at 90 s, the seeds have grown a crystallographically
aligned bud or branch (indicated by ellipses), a process that breaks up the seed groupings; (d) by 3 min, the seeds have grown several aligned buds (ellipses)
and the seed groupings have mostly broken up; (e) at 10 min, the nanostructures are almost fully developed; (f) growth is complete at 30 min.
the two-dimensional nanosheets shown in Figure 1 (see also
Figure S3).
shown in Figure 10. This time-development study reveals the
stages in the development of mature nanostructures such as those
in Figure 8. At 30 s of illumination, individual particles are
observed with diameters of about 6 nm suggestive of a thin
spherical shell of platinum coating the micelle. The structures
are unstable under the intense electron beam and pop open,
forming several fragments. By 60 s, the Pt in these 6 nm shells
apparently redistributes since we now observe only 3-4 nm
particles that tend to aggregate with surfactant into randomly
oriented groupings, forming a ragged disk. This structure is
likely an artifact of drying with surfactant present during the
sample preparation. By an illumination time of 90 s, the original
seed particles have begun to grow crystallographically aligned
buds (branches), and the aggregates of seeds have partially
broken up as a consequence. At 3 min, the initial seed particles
have sprouted several additional crystallographically aligned
buds, and formation of these immature nanostructures has largely
To our knowledge, this is the first example of this type of
single-crystalline metallic nanodendrite. Consistent with their
single-crystalline structure, the nanodendrites are stable in
solution for at least three months. Even after taking the colloidal
suspension to dryness and resuspending the solid by mild
sonication in the same solvent system, TEM images show that
the structures of these nanodendrites are essentially unchanged.
Morphological Evolution of the Nanodendrites. To develop
a more complete understanding of the seeding and dendritic
growth processes, TEM samples obtained using SDS micelles
were prepared at specific times during exposure to intense
incandescent light. Washing and drying during the TEM sample
preparation process effectively interrupts the reduction reaction,
giving a snapshot of the nanostructures present at the time the
sample is prepared. The TEM images of these samples are
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A R T I C L E S
Song et al.
broken up the seed aggregates. By 10 min, the growing
nanostructures contain most of their full complement of
branches, and at 30 min and 1 h, the mature nanostructures are
observed. TEM images of Pt nanoparticles obtained by Troupis
et al.53 using polyoxometalate photocatalysts (e.g., [SiW12O40]4)
and UV light are in clusters that could be similar to either the
seed clusters in Figure 10b or the nanoassemblies in Figure 10f,
but the TEM images reported are not of sufficiently high
resolution to allow us to distinguish between these two
possibilities.
The 6 nm shell-like structures seen at the earliest times
suggest that the SDS micelles might actually serve a templating
role as is the case of the liposomes for the circular nanosheets
(Figure 1). Indeed, scanning TEM HAADF images of the mature
photocatalytically seeded nanodendrites do show that many of
them have z-density profiles with a dip in the center (see Figure
S4). This result is consistent with these nanostructures lacking
a metallic interior and possibly containing a surfactant micelle.
We note, however, that seeding with Pt nanoparticles as opposed
to using a photocatalyst molecule in the micelle produces
essentially indistinguishable nanodendrites. This does not rule
out a templating role for the micelles, as the added nanoparticle
might attach itself to the surface of a micelle, and then branching
during the autocatalytic growth phase could then ultimately coat
the micelle to produce the observed nanostructure. Alternatively,
the nanoparticles may simply accrete a layer of surfactant and
grow into the nanodendrite without the micelles, providing a
templating function. In this regard, it is worth noting that the
nanostructures formed at surfactant concentrations (1 mM) well
below the critical micellar concentration (CMC) of SDS (∼8
mM) are identical to those formed at concentrations above the
CMC. However, because of the marked (50- to 200-fold)
decrease in the CMC in the presence of porphyrins,54 micelles
likely still exist to act as templates. Even where a templating
role seems to be readily apparent (e.g., as for the liposomes in
Figure 1) it is not always clear how this effect occurs. For
example, the sheets could be formed on the surface, in the
bilayer, or between liposomes. In summary, these results suggest
that although surfactant must be present to form these nano-
structures, the surfactant need not necessarily play a templating
role.
Figure 11. Photocatalytic reduction of water to hydrogen by the platinum
nanostructures, composed of the platinum nanodendrite, surfactant, and
SnOEP, with SnUroP (80 mM) added to improve light harvesting. The Pt
nanostructures are diluted into an ascorbic acid (ED) solution containing
the Sn uroporphyrin for the measurement. Water is reduced at rates as high
as 6 mmol h-1 (H2 turnover rate of 33 h-1 in terms of SnUroP) by electrons
supplied to the surface of the Pt catalyst primarily by the light-harvesting
Sn uroporphyrin anions. Incandescent white light intensity is 800 nmol cm-2
s-1, but mostly light with wavelengths in the region of the Soret band of
the porphyrin is absorbed. Reaction conditions are (a) low Pt (6.5 mM)
and high ascorbic acid concentration (200 mM) and (b) high Pt concentration
(65 mM) with low ascorbic acid concentration (60 mM). H2 turnover rates
in terms of atomic Pt are (a) 390 h-1 and (b) 14 h-1
.
growth; this is consistent with the fact that surfactants with both
negative (SDS) and neutral (Brij-35) headgroups (Chart 1) are
equally capable of producing the three-dimensional nanostruc-
tures. It is also possible that ascorbic acid or its oxidation product
may play some role in interfacially directing the dendritic
growth. The importance of the interfacially directed growth
process is supported by experiments in which pyridine, which
interacts strongly with the platinum surface, is added to the Brij-
35 reaction mixture in small amounts. In this case, nanoparticles
instead of the three-dimensional nanodendrites are formed,
consistent with pyridine effectively interrupting the interfacial
interactions of platinum with the surfactant.
A reasonable mechanism by which the surfactant layer might
give dendritic growth is by controlling the diffusion of reactants
to the platinum surface. Most likely, diffusion of Pt complex
and ascorbic acid into the approximately 1 nm wide surfactant-
filled crevices between the arms of the three-dimensional
dendrites is slower than the diffusion to the nanostructure
extremities. This differential diffusion rate results in dendritic
growth in a “rich gets richer” scenario. Note that at pH 3
ascorbic acid is fully protonated and neutral so it can easily
diffuse through the surfactant layer. Similarly, the predominant
Pt(Cl)2(H2O)2 complex is also neutral and can easily diffuse
across neutral and charged surfactant layers. In the case of the
two-dimensional dendrites, diffusion may be limited by the sheet
being sandwiched between two liposomes, so that nutrients can
only diffuse to the edge of the nanosheet.
The surfactant is almost certainly involved in interfacially
directing the dendritic growth of the three-dimensional nano-
structures. Above the CMC, the metal surface of the growing
Pt dendrite most likely becomes fully coated with a bilayer of
surfactant.55 The oxidation of ascorbic acid and addition of
platinum metal to the growing dendrite can then occur at the
metal surface beneath this protective surfactant bilayer. Accre-
tion of additional surfactant from solution onto the growing
platinum surface protects the embryonic nanostructure. Below
the CMC, there is not enough surfactant to form a bilayer,55
but most likely the platinum surface is still covered with
surfactant molecules. The fact that nanodendrites form even
below the CMC may indicate that the exact molecular structure
of the surfactant layer is not critical for directing dendritic
Regardless of the exact organization of the metal and
surfactant molecules, the photocatalytically active porphyrin
molecule likely remains associated with surfactant in the
nanostructure that it nucleated. As colloidal platinum is a well-
known catalyst for H2 evolution from water in artificial
(53) Troupis, A.; Hiskia, A.; Papaconstantinou, E. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2002,
41, 1911-1914.
(54) Savitski, A. P.; Vorobyova, E. V.; Berezin, I. V.; Ugarova, N. N. J. Colloid
Interface Sci. 1981, 84, 175-181.
(55) Mafune´, F.; Kohno, J.; Takeda, Y.; Kondow, T.; Sawabe, H. J. Phys. Chem.
B 2000, 104, 8333-8337.
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Synthesis of Metallic Platinum Nanodendrites
A R T I C L E S
photosynthesis systems,56-60 the Pt nanostructure and the
associated porphyrin photocatalyst should therefore be able to
generate H2 in the presence of light and an electron donor. This
H2 photosynthetic chemistry is similar to the reaction mechanism
described above for Pt2+ reduction, except that SnP-• provides
electrons to H+ at the Pt metal surface to produce hydrogen.
To see if hydrogen evolution was occurring, the reaction mixture
containing the (12 nm) three-dimensional platinum dendrites
and associated porphyrin photocatalyst (as shown in Figure 8)
was irradiated with room light in the presence of ascorbic acid.
After two months, the headspace of the sealed reaction vessel
was analyzed by gas chromatography, and the presence of
hydrogen was confirmed (∼30 vol %). Two interesting aspects
of this catalytic reaction are that H2 evolution is observed even
in the presence of the surfactant coating and that the porphyrin
delivers its strongly reducing electrons directly to protons at
the Pt surface without the aid of a relay molecule such as methyl
viologen, as has been used in some previous studies.56
The nanodendrite-surfactant assemblies probably suffer from
poor light-harvesting ability because of the low concentration
of the light-absorbing porphyrin per nanodendrite and the
opacity of the colloidal solution. To address these deficiencies,
water-soluble SnUroP (Chart 1) was added to an ascorbic acid
solution containing only a small amount of the nanodendrite
mixture. In this case, H2 evolution is greatly accelerated,
consistent with increased light flux and the additional light
harvesting provided by the SnUroP. (Dilution of the nanoden-
drites may have also altered the surfactant coating and acceler-
ated H2 evolution.) As shown in Figure 11, hydrogen evolution
increases linearly for hours with turnover rates as high as 390
h-1 (mole H2/mole atomic Pt). Given these findings, nanostruc-
tures such as those seen in Figure 8 can be viewed as functional
nanocomposites consisting of the platinum dendrite, the ad-
sorbed surfactant, and possibly ascorbic acid, and the associated
active photocatalyst.
in sheetlike nanodendrites or foamlike nanosheets of platinum.
The unique surfactant-templated platinum growth demonstrated
by these two-dimensional dendrites presents the possibility of
making other new metal nanostructures using different surfactant
phases and other materials as templates. Such porous platinum
nanomaterials prepared by this method have potential applica-
tions in catalysis, electronics, sensors, and magnetic devices.
A novel photocatalytic seeding approach provides a new in
situ method of varying the concentration of seeds and thus the
final size of the nanostructures. This method presents new
opportunities for controlling seeding rates by varying photo-
catalyst concentration and light intensity. Importantly, it also
offers the potential for controlling the synthesis of platinum
nanostructures by lithographic techniques, i.e., controlling the
location at which nanostructures are grown. Besides lithographic
control, the location might also be controlled by pre-positioning
and immobilizing the photocatalyst molecules in a desired
pattern. For the 3-D nanodendrites, the particular micelles that
contain a porphyrin molecule are those that lead to growth
centers. For the 2-D nanodendrites, the location at which growth
occurs is probably determined by the location of the porphyrin
photocatalyst in the templating surfactant as illustrated in Figure
1a.
Acknowledgment. We thank Daniel Throckmorton for pre-
paring liposomes. This work was partially supported by the
Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, Office of Basic
Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy, by the Division
of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences, Office of
Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy (DE-FG02-
02ER15369), the Laboratory Directed Research and Develop-
ment Program at Sandia National Laboratories, and the Luso-
American Development Foundation (FLAD) Nanotechnology
Network (to E.P. and J.A.S.). Sandia is a multiprogram
laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin
Company, for the United States Department of Energy’s
National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract DE-
AC04-94AL85000.
Conclusions
The results reported here demonstrate that seeding and
autocatalytic growth by reduction of Pt salts in the presence of
surfactants leads to unique two- and three-dimensional platinum
nanodendrites. The platinum dendrites are formed by interfa-
cially directed growth and restricted access of nutrients due to
the surfactant on the surface of the growing nanostructure. In
the case of large liposomes, templating by the surfactant results
Supporting Information Available: Figures showing UV-
visible spectra demonstrating the degradation of ascorbic acid
in air and the acceleration of this reaction in the presence of
platinum nanoparticles; electron-dispersive X-ray spectra of 2-D
and 3-D nanodendrites; high-resolution TEM images of a
circular nanosheet; and HAADF scanning TEM image of small
3-D nanodendrites and density profiles for six randomly selected
dendrites (PDF). This material is available free of charge via
the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.
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