Simple and Versatile Route to the Synthesis of Anisotropic Bimetallic Core-shell

We report herewith a simple and versatile route for the preparation of anisotropic Ag(AgCl)-Pt core-shell nanocubes and Pt nanoboxes. The core-shell nanocubes were first synthesized through the simultaneous reduction method and then treated with bis-(p-sulfonatophenyl)-phenylphosphine (BSPP) to remove the core materials. The changes in morphology, structure and composition during these syntheses were carefully followed. We found that, BSPP, in addition to being an effective silver oxidant, is also a good solubilizer for AgCl nanoparticles at room temperature. This allowed us to prepare pure Pt nanoboxes easily from the as-synthesized Ag (AgCl)-Pt nanocubes using a greatly simplified post-treatment for AgCl, which is the perennial impurity byproduct in the preparation of hollow nanostructures by the replacement reactions. Index Terms — Bimetallic core-shell nanocubes, Pt hollow nanoboxes, Anisotropic morphology, bis-(p-sulfonatophenyl)phenylphosphine (BSPP)