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44353-AC10
Oxidative Etching and Its Role in the Synthesis of Metal Nanostructures

Younan Xia, University of Washington

This work has been focused on the shape-controlled synthesis of Pd nanostructures. Similar to the Ag system, both the crystallinity of seeds and the growth rates of different crystallographic facets play a vital role in determining the final shape of a resultant nanostructure. We have investigated how the reduction rate can be controlled to maneuver the crystallinity (i.e., single-crystal, single twinned, and multiple twinned) of seeds in the nucleation stage. The distribution of multiple twinned and single-crystal seeds could be further manipulated by employing oxidative etching. As the seed grew into a nanocrystal, the growth rates of different facets (e.g., {111} versus {100}) could be altered with capping agents to control the final shape. The ability to generate Pd nanostructures with a variety of geometrical shapes provides a great opportunity to systematically evaluate their electrical, plasmonic, and catalytic properties, as well as to fully explore their applications

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