Pt₃Te₄ nanoparticles from tellurium nanowires

Abstract

We report the synthesis of platinum telluride nanoparticles (Pt₃Te₄ NPs) in the solution phase at room temperature using a template-assisted method. The dendrimeric aggregates formed are composed of several small units of Pt₃Te₄ NPs of ~4 nm diameter. Tellurium nanowires (Te NWs) are used as the template and the reducing agent in the growth of NPs which occurs due to the galvanic replacement reaction between Te NWs and PtCl₆^2-. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of the dispersed Pt₃Te₄ NPs was studied using crystal violet (CV) as the analyte. SERS sensitivity up to 10^-8 M of CV was observed. The Raman enhancement factor (EF) of adsorbed CV on NP aggregates was calculated to be 1.74 × 10⁵. The catalytic ability of the as-synthesized Pt₃Te₄ NPs for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) was studied.