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Updated: May 11, 2026
A Salt-Templated Synthesis Method for Porous Platinum-based Macrobeams and Macrotubes
Published on: May 18, 2020
Highly uniform platinum icosahedra made by hot injection-assisted GRAILS method
Wei Zhou1, Jianbo Wu, Hong Yang
1Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 114 Roger Adams Laboratory, MC-712, 600 S. Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
Abstract:
Highly uniform Pt icosahedral nanocrystals with an edge length of 8.8 nm were synthesized in nonhydrolytic systems using the hot injection-assisted GRAILS (gas reducing agent in liquid solution) method. The results show the key factors for the shape control include fast nucleation, kinetically controlled growth, and protection from oxidation by air. The effect of oxygen molecules on the Pt morphology was experimentally confirmed based on the study of shape evolution of icosahedral crystals upon exposure to oxygen gas. The Pt icosahedral catalysts obtained had an area-specific activity of 0.83 mA/cm(2) Pt, four times that of 0.20 mA/cm(2) Pt for typical Pt/C catalysts, in an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).
