Issue 18, 2022

Size-dependent shape distributions of platinum nanoparticles

Abstract

While it is well established that nanoparticle shape can depend on equilibrium thermodynamics or growth kinetics, recent computational work has suggested the importance of thermal energy in controlling the distribution of shapes in populations of nanoparticles. Here, we used transmission electron microscopy to characterize the shapes of bare platinum nanoparticles and observed a strong dependence of shape distribution on particle size. Specifically, the smallest nanoparticles (<2.5 nm) had a truncated octahedral shape, bound by 〈111〉 and 〈100〉 facets, as predicted by lowest-energy thermodynamics. However, as particle size increased, the higher-energy 〈110〉 facets became increasingly common, leading to a large population of non-equilibrium truncated cuboctahedra. The observed trends were explained by combining atomistic simulations (both molecular dynamics and an empirical square-root bond-cutting model) with Boltzmann statistics. Overall, this study demonstrates experimentally how thermal energy leads to shape variation in populations of metal nanoparticles, and reveals the dependence of shape distributions on particle size. The prevalence of non-equilibrium facets has implications for metal nanoparticles applications from catalysis to solar energy.

Graphical abstract: Size-dependent shape distributions of platinum nanoparticles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 maj 2022
Accepted
18 aug 2022
First published
26 aug 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Nanoscale Adv., 2022,4, 3978-3986

Size-dependent shape distributions of platinum nanoparticles

R. Ding, Ingrid M. Padilla Espinosa, D. Loevlie, S. Azadehranjbar, A. J. Baker, G. Mpourmpakis, A. Martini and T. D. B. Jacobs, Nanoscale Adv., 2022, 4, 3978 DOI: 10.1039/D2NA00326K

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