Rapid synthesis of hybrids and hollow PdO nanostructures by controlled in situ dissolution of a ZnO nanorod template: insights into the formation mechanism and thermal stability

Abstract

Hollow nanomaterials have attracted a lot of interest by virtue of their wide range of applications that arise primarily due to their unique architecture. A common strategy to synthesize hollow nanomaterials is by nucleation of the shell material over a preformed core and subsequent dissolution of the core in the second step. Herein an ultrafast, microwave route has been demonstrated, to synthesize PdO nanotubes in a single step using ZnO as a sacrificial template. The mechanism of the nanotube formation has been investigated in detail using control experiments. By tuning the starting ratio of PdCl₂ : ZnO, hollow to hybrid PdO nanostructures could be obtained using the same method. Conversion of the PdO to Pd nanotubes has been shown by simple NaBH₄ treatment. The thermal stability of the PdO nanotubes has been studied. The insights presented here are general and applicable for the synthesis of hybrids/hollow structures in other systems as well.