Microwave-Assisted Rapid Synthesis of Platinum Nanoclusters with High Surface Area

Synthesis of platinum nanoclusters (PNCs), with its advantages of high surface area and reduced materials costs, represents a greatly interesting class of nanomaterials. In this paper, a one-step, rapid and efficient aqueous-phase reaction to straightforwardly produce PNCs in high yield is proposed without the need for any organic solvent, template or ion replacement, which is carried out simply by microwave-assisted heat-treatment of an aqueous solution containing K₂PtCl₄ and 2-[4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazinyl]ethanesulfonicacid (HEPES) within 12 s. As-prepared platinum nanoclusters are porous interconnected nanostructures and possess very high surface area (41 m²g⁻¹). The combination of high surface area with the nanoarchitectures consisting of pores of the product is advantageous for catalytic applications.