Ethylenediamine tetramethylene phosphonic acid assisted synthesis of palladium nanocubes and their electrocatalysis of formic acid oxidation

The synthesis of Pd nanocrystals of controlled size and morphology has drawn enormous interest due to their catalytic activity. We report a new and efficient strategy for the one-step synthesis of monodispersed Pd nanocubes with ethylenediamine tetramethylene phosphonate (EDTMP) as a complex-forming and capping agent. The morphology, structure, and growth mechanism of the Pd nanocubes were fully characterized via selected area electron diffraction (SAED), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It was found that the morphology of the Pd nanocrystals in the proposed EDTMP–PdCl 2 system could be changed from octahedrons to nanocubes simply by adjusting the amount of iodide used during synthesis. After UV/ozone and electrochemical cleaning, the as-prepared Pd nanocubes demonstrated excellent electrocatalytic activity and stability during formic acid oxidation, owing to their abundant {100} facets and small particle size.