Nanostructural and Morphological Control of Ruthenium Compounds Templated by Surfactant Assemblies

Abstract

This paper presents the synthesis of nanospherical, hollow spherical, stringlike, and nanotubular mesostructured ruthenium compounds templated by anionic surfactant assemblies by the homogeneous precipitation method using urea. When sodium dodecylsulfate and sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate were used as a template, nanospherical ruthenium compounds were formed. On the other hand, when a mixture of sodium hexadecylsulfate and octadecylsulfate was used as a template, hollow spherical ruthenium compounds were obtained. Furthermore, when sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate was used as a template, nanospherical, stringlike, and nanotubular ruthenium compounds were synthesized. For example, the nanotube framework comprised a less-ordered mesostructure phase composed of the cationic ruthenium compound with a thickness of 1.4 nm and the anionic bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate phase with a thickness of 1.0 nm. When the nanotubes were calcined in air, they were first transformed into amorphous ruthenium compound n...