Synthesis of palladium concave Nanocubes with high-index facets and their catalytic properties

Palladium nanocrystals with a variety of shapes have received particular interest in recent years due to their unique properties in catalysis. Herein, Pd concave nanocubes with high-index facets (Pd-CNs) was synthesized by a simple water-based route without seeds using L-ascorbic acid (AA) as the reduction agent in the presence of CTAB. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were employed to demonstrate the formation of concave structures with high-index facets of the Pd-CNs with an average size of 17.5 nm. The as-prepared Pd-CNs presented significantly higher catalytic activity than commercial Pd/C (an average particle size of 4.7 nm) in the electro-oxidation of methanol, but exhibited weaker property in Suzuki coupling reaction, which provided an evidence for the effect of shape and size on different reactions.