Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.132, No.25, 8747-8756, 2010
Solving the Structure of Size-Selected Pt Nanocatalysts Synthesized by Inverse Micelle Encapsulation
The structure, size, and shape of gamma-Al2O3-supported Pt nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized by inverse micelle encapsulation have been resolved via a synergistic combination of imaging and spectroscopic tools. It is shown that this synthesis method leads to 3D NP shapes even for subnanometer clusters, in contrast to the raft-like structures obtained for the same systems via traditional deposition-precipitation methods. Furthermore, a high degree of atomic ordering is observed for the micellar NPs in H-2 atmosphere at all sizes studied, possibly due to H-induced surface reconstruction in these high surface area clusters. Our findings demonstrate that the influence of NP/support interactions on NP structure can be diminished in favor of NP/adsorbate interactions when NP catalysts are prepared by micelle encapsulation methods.