An effective route for size- and morphology-controlled synthesis of Pt nanomaterials in aqueous solutions via proton beam irradiation

Abstract

We present a facile one-pot synthetic route for the production of Pt nanomaterials via a simple proton beam irradiation process at room temperature. Size- and shape-controlled Pt nanostructures were prepared in an aqueous phase-based solution without the addition of any harsh reductants. We observed that the sizes and the morphologies of the resulting Pt nanoparticles were easily varied by changing the proton beam current and duration time. We also observed that the addition of isopropyl alcohol to the reaction mixture played a vital role in the morphology-controlled synthesis of Pt nanomaterials. We found that the size of the prepared Pt nanoparticles increased as the beam irradiation time was increased under the same beam current. When the beam irradiation time was set the same, the average particle size decreased as the beam current was increased. We also observed that the average size of the Pt nanocrystals generally increased as the concentration of isopropyl alcohol was increased, and more importantly, a gradual morphology change of the Pt nanocrystals was observed.