Three-dimensional Dendritic Pt Nanostructures: Sonoelectrochemical Synthesis and Electrochemical Applications

Abstract

A new and convenient sonoelectrochemical method was used to synthesize uniform three-dimensional (3D) dendritic Pt nanostructures (DPNs) at room temperature. The size and morphology of the final product could be controlled via simply adjusting the experiment parameters. The morphology and structure of the DPNs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray, and X-ray diffraction. The formation process of the DPNs was carefully studied, and a spontaneous assembly mechanism was proposed based on the experimental results. Additionally, the electrocatalytic activity of the DPNs was evaluated using methanol and glucose as model molecules. The DPNs showed improved electrocatalytic activity toward methanol oxidation with respect to the monodisperse Pt nanoparticles; this improvement is due to the porosity structure and the greatly enhanced effective surface area. In addition, a sensitive enzyme-free biosensor can be easily developed for the detection of glucose in pH 7.4 phosphate buffer solution. The present method provides a new and simple strategy toward the fabrication of 3D DPNs with extensive applications.

Electrocatalysts for Glucose Electrooxidation Reaction: A Review

“…Uniform three-dimensional (3D) dendritic Pt nanostructures (DPNs) were synthesized and tested for GOR at room temperature by Shen et al [32]. DPNs showed improved electrocatalytic activity for GOR with respect to the monodispersed Pt nanoparticles.…”

Chemical Reduction and Deposition of Nanostructured Pt–Au Alloy

“…Also, modifying the Pt:Au ratio would result in different tolerance performances, which the Pt:Au ratio of 1:2 yields the highest If/Ib ratio and best catalytic performance. (Cho, Mei, & Ouyang, 2012), while Pt nanostructures are 3D (Cho & Ouyang, 2011;Shen et al, 2008) when grown on substrates. By referring to their lowest surface energy crystallographic plane (111), given that Pt and Au have face-centered cubic structures, the specific surface energies of Pt and Au are 2.299 J m -2 and 1.283 J m -2 respectively (Vitos, Ruban, Skriver, & Kollar, 1998).…”

An Introduction to Sonoelectrochemistry

“…Pulsed sonoelectrochemical techniques [78] have been employed to produce numerous pure metals [79,80], alloys [81], semiconductors [82] and polymer nanoparticles [83]. The particular attributes of metal powders obtained using this technology are that they are produced in a very finely divided state with high surface area, high chemical purity and with an average particle size of 100 nm [84].…”