Synthesis and characterization of novel Au(core)-Au/Pt alloy(shell) nanostructure

A systematic study is reported about the amount-dependent morphology change in a series of Au-Pt bimetallic nanoparticles synthesized using chemical reduction. The amount of Au precursor is kept constant throughout whole series of compounds to obtain fixed Au core size (∼7.5 nm). The Au/Pt ratio is varied from 1/1 to 1/4 in order to synthesize Pt shell layer of different thickness. We observed a remarkable shift of surface plasmon band around 410 nm. With the aid of high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) and energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS), the composition of shell layer is found to be Pt enriched Au-Pt alloy. As the amount of Pt increases, the Pt clusters formed a string-like shape on the surface of nanoparticles. The average diameter of these Pt clusters is about 2 nm. This special structure may exhibit unique catalytic property.