Prospective use of the potentiostatic triple pulse strategy for the template-free electrosynthesis of metal nanoparticles

Abstract

The electrosynthesis of metal nanoparticles with control over size and dispersion is a challenging task on a macrodisk electrode in the absence of any chemical or physical template. A potentiostatic triple pulse strategy (PTPS) was designed for the electrosynthesis of monodispersed lead nanoparticles (PbNPs) on glassy carbon electrodes. The results were compared to those obtained using the conventional potentiostatic double pulse strategy (PDPS). A switchover of the nucleation mechanism from progressive in PDPS to instantaneous in PTPS was observed for the first time during the final controlled growth step, resulting in smaller and better monodispersed PbNPs (∼8 ± 2 nm).