Facet development during platinum nanocube growth

Hong Gang Liao, Danylo Zherebetskyy, Huolin L Xin, Cory Czarnik, Peter Ercius, Hans Elmlund, Ming Pan, Lin Wang Wang, Haimei Zheng

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleOtherpeer-review

421 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

An understanding of how facets of a nanocrystal develop is critical for controlling nanocrystal shape and designing novel functional materials. However, the atomic pathways of nanocrystal facet development are mostly unknown because of the lack of direct observation. We report the imaging of platinum nanocube growth in a liquid cell using transmission electron microscopy with high spatial and temporal resolution. The growth rates of all low index facets are similar until the {100} facets stop growth. The continuous growth of the rest facets leads to a nanocube. Our calculation shows that the much lower ligand mobility on the {100} facets is responsible for the arresting of {100} growing facets. These findings shed light on nanocrystal shape-control mechanisms and future design of nanomaterials.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)916-919
Number of pages4
JournalScience
Volume345
Issue number6199
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22 Aug 2014
Externally publishedYes

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