Publications
LDRD final report on "controlled synthesis of nanocrystalline catalysts from solutions to supports"
Control of nanoparticle size is crucial to the development of nanotechnology. At this point in time, no general, rational synthetic strategy for controlling nanocrystal diameters and producing narrow diameter distributions has emerged. This is a reflection of a poor understanding of the mechanisms for nanocrystal growth. Based on previous studies of bismuth and gold nanoparticle growth, this work clearly establishes two new synthetic approaches to controlled growth of colloidal Pt nanocrystals, both based on aggregative-growth mechanisms, which afford narrow size distributions and size control over a wide and relevant size regime. The first new method is a phase transfer process, where growth is controlled by varying ligand stabilizer concentrations. The second method involves rapid reduction of a molecular platinum precursor in the presence of a polymer stabilizer. At present the size control is empirical, and incompletely understood and incompletely developed. However, the new synthetic pathways are amenable to kinetic study and analysis, establishing that a quantitative, rational control of sizes and size distributions can be achieved.