Polyoxometalate-mediated one-pot synthesis of Pd nanocrystals with controlled morphologies for efficient chemical and electrochemical catalysis.

Abstract

Polyoxometalates (POMs), as inorganic ligands, can endow metal nanocrystals (NCs) with unique reactivities on account of their characteristic redox properties. In the present work, we present a facile POM-mediated one-pot aqueous synthesis method for the production of single-crystalline Pd NCs with controlled shapes and sizes. The POMs could function as both reducing and stabilizing agents in the formation of NCs, and thus gave a fine control over the nucleation and growth kinetics of NCs. The prepared POM-stabilized Pd NCs exhibited excellent catalytic activity and stability for electrocatalytic (formic acid oxidation) and catalytic (Suzuki coupling) reactions compared to Pd NCs prepared without the POMs. This shows that the POMs play a pivotal role in determining the catalytic performance, as well as the growth, of NCs. We envision that the present approach can offer a convenient way to develop efficient NC-based catalyst systems.