One-pot rapid low-cost synthesis of Pd-fullerite catalysts

Controlled synthesis of palladium-functionalised C₆₀ fullerite nanostructures is demonstrated and shown to act as a catalyst using significantly reduced quantities of Pd precursor materials. Tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium was used as a precursor to enable the deposition of palladium clusters upon the fullerite during growth using a low-cost and rapid liquid/liquid interface precipitation yielding high quantities of catalyst in seconds. The palladium-functionalised fullerites are characterized using scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, Raman, FTIR, photoluminescence and ³¹P-NMR spectroscopy. Variation of the ratio of palladium complex to C₆₀ molecules is employed to control the aspect ratio of the nanostructures. Evidence for the presence of both (η²-C₆₀)Pd(PPh ₃)₂ and highly dispersed palladium clusters with diameters ∼1.4-5.6 nm on the fullerite is found. Due to the high porosity of fullerite, combined with the even distribution and controlled size of palladium clusters, these fullerites show good potential for the further development of efficient catalysts.