Green synthesis and characterization of polyvinyl alcohol stabilized palladium nanoparticles: effect of solvent on diameter and catalytic activity
Sreya Roy Chowdhury, Partha Sarathi Roy and Swapan Kumar Bhattacharya
Abstract
Global palladium nanoparticles of different average diameters in the range 2–19 nm have been synthesized at room temperature by the reduction of K2PdCl4 in aqueous alcohols of varying composition in presence of constant proportion of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The synthesized nanoparticles have been characterized by different spectroscopic, microscopic and electro analytical techniques like cyclic voltammetry, chronopotentiometry, and chronoamperometry. FTIR spectroscopy detects the effect of co-solvent composition on the particle-PVA interaction involving −OH group of the latter. X-ray diffraction study shows that the nanoparticles have both face centred cubic and hexagonal crystalline structures which may influence the catalytic capability of the synthesized palladium quantum dots. The study reveals the influence of co-solvent (ethanol) composition in monitoring the average diameter and the nature of encapsulation of palladium nanoparticles which in turn help to monitor the electro-catalytic activity of the synthesized palladium nanoparticles in reference to oxidation of ethanol in alkaline medium
