From catalytic studies in surface science, it has been shown that the catalytic activity is dependent on the type of metal facet used. Nanocrystals of different shapes have different facets. This raises the possibility that the use of metal nanoparticles of different shapes could catalyze different reactions with different efficiencies. The catalytic activity is found to correlate with the fraction of surface atoms located on the corners and edges of the tetrahedral, cubic, and spherical platinum nanoparticles. It is observed that for nanoparticles of comparable size, the tetrahedral nanoparticles have the highest fraction of surface atoms located on the corners and edges and also have the lowest activation energy, making them the most catalytically active.
Nanoparticles have a high surface-to-volume ratio, which makes them attractive to use compared to bulk catalytic materials. However, their surface atoms are also very active due to their high surface energy. As a result, it is possible that the surface atoms are so active that their size and shape could change during the course of their catalytic function. It is found that dissolution of corner and edge atoms occurs for both the tetrahedral and cubic platinum nanoparticles during the full course of the mild electron transfer reaction and that there is a corresponding change in the activation energy in which both kinds of nanoparticles strive to behave like spherical nanoparticles. When spherical palladium nanoparticles are used as catalysts for the Suzuki reaction, it is found that the nanoparticles grow larger after the first cycle of the reaction due to the Ostwald ripening process since it is a relatively harsh reaction due to the need to reflux the reaction mixture for 12 hours at 100 oC. When the tetrahedral Pt nanoparticles are used to catalyze this reaction, the tetrahedral nanoparticles transform to spherical ones, which grow larger during the second cycle.
In addition, studies on the effect of the individual reactant have also provided clues to the surface catalytic process that is taking place. In the case of the electron transfer reaction, the surface catalytic process involves the thiosulfate ions binding to the nanoparticle surface and reacting with the hexacyanoferrate (III) ions in solution. In the case of the Suzuki reaction, the surface catalytic mechanism of the Suzuki reaction involves the phenylboronic acid binding to the nanoparticle surface and reacting with iodobenzene via collisional processes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:GATECH/oai:smartech.gatech.edu:1853/6878 |
| Date | 30 March 2005 |
| Creators | Narayanan, Radha |
| Publisher | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | Georgia Tech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 5016695 bytes, 1830998 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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