One-pot synthesis of octahedral platinum nanoclusters with enhanced electrocatalytic activities

Octahedral platinum nanoclusters were successfully prepared by one-pot hydrothermal with the synergetic effect of the glucose and cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide. In this study, the effects of the structure regulator and reaction time on properties of products were reported. Meanwhile the growth mechanism involved in the formation of octahedral platinum nanoclusters has been discussed. Due to its special structure, the octahedral platinum nanoclusters exhibited a better methanol oxidation activity than the commercial Pt/C catalysts, whose mass activity was 1.86 times greater than that of commercial Pt/C.

Graphical abstractIn this work, well-defined octahedral platinum nanoclusters (OTPtNCs) with uniform average diameter about 24.3 nm were successfully prepared by one-pot hydrothermal with the synergetic effect of the glucose and CTAB. During the reaction process, CTAB mainly played the critical role of shape controller and glucose played the role of reducing agent. The morphology observation suggested that the surfaces of the OTPtNCs were covered by smaller platinum nanoparticles uniformly. Due to its special structure, the OTPtNCs exhibited a better methanol oxidation activity than the commercial Pt/C catalysts, whose mass activity was 1.86 times greater than that of commercial Pt/C.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide