Microwave-assisted rapid synthesis of platinum nanoclusters with high surface area

Synthesis of platinum nanoclusters (PNCs), with its advantages of high surface area and reduced materials costs, represents a greatly interesting class of nanomaterials. In this paper, a one-step, rapid and efficient aqueous-phase reaction to straightforwardly produce PNCs in high yield is proposed without the need for any organic solvent, template or ion replacement, which is carried out simply by microwave-assisted heat-treatment of an aqueous solution containing K2PtCl4 and 2-[4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazinyl]ethanesulfonicacid (HEPES) within 12 s. As-prepared platinum nanoclusters are porous interconnected nanostructures and possess very high surface area (41 m2 g(-1)). The combination of high surface area with the nanoarchitectures consisting of pores of the product is advantageous for catalytic applications.