Photochemical synthesis of shape-selective palladium nanocubes in aqueous solution

We have developed a seedless, citrateless one-step synthetic process for the formation of shape controlled monodisperse Pd nanoparticles (NPs) in 4 h of UV-photoirradiation. The synthesis was done in cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant media in the presence of ascorbic acid as a reducing agent. The size and shape of the particles can be tuned easily by varying the molar ratio of the CTAB with the Pd salt and by controlling the UV-photoirradiation time. The preferential binding of CTAB to the (100) facets of Pd leads to the formation of Pd nanorods and nanocubes. The approach developed here would reduce the use of seed particles and tri-sodium citrate for the fast synthesis of faceted Pd NPs. The synthesized particles were found to be stable for at least 3 months under ambient conditions at room temperature. This newly developed process might find potential applications in the formation of other materials like Au, Ag, and CdS NPs and applicable in surface enhanced Raman scattering, and different catalysis reactions. We have developed a seedless, citrateless one-step synthetic process for the formation of shape controlled monodisperse Pd nanoparticles (NPs) in 4 h of UV-photoirradiation. The synthesis was done in cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant media in the presence of ascorbic acid as a reducing agent. The size and shape of the particles can be tuned easily by varying the molar ratio of the CTAB with the Pd salt and by controlling the UV-photoirradiation time. The preferential binding of CTAB to the (100) facets of Pd leads to the formation of Pd nanorods and nanocubes. The approach developed here would reduce the use of seed particles and tri-sodium citrate for the fast synthesis of faceted Pd NPs. The synthesized particles were found to be stable for at least 3 months under ambient conditions at room temperature. This newly developed process might find potential applications in the formation of other materials like Au, Ag, and CdS NPs and applicable in surface enhanced Raman scattering, and different catalysis reactions.