Synthesis
Platinum nanoparticles are made by reduction of hexachloroplatinate. A solution is rapidly stirred while a reducing agent such as hydrogen gas is added, causing platinum ions to be reduced to neutral platinum atoms. As more and more of these platinum atoms form, the solution quickly becomes supersaturated and platinum starts to precipitate in the form of sub-nanometre particles. As the reaction proceeds, platinum atoms are added to these nuclei, which grow in size. If the solution is stirred vigorously enough, the particles will be fairly uniform in size and shape. To prevent the particles from aggregating, some sort of stabilizing agent or stabilizer that sticks to the nanoparticle surface is usually added, such as sodium polyacrylate. They can be functionalized with various organic ligands to create organic-inorganic hybrid materials with advanced functionality.
Read more about this topic: Platinum Nanoparticles
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