Assembly of Platinum or Palladium-Based Nanostructures and Metal-Organic Framework at liquid/liquid Interface

Recently, the interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions has been investigated as it suggests a simple, easy and non-cost experiment to handle system for the assembly of nano objects [1]. The drop in the total free energy of the system brought about by the reduction in the liquid/liquid surface area is the most common explanation for the nanoparticles assembly [1]. Platinum is a noble and expensive metal with high catalytic activity and stability that has many technological applications especially as electrocatalyst in fuel cell or water splitting reaction. Also, platinum (II) complexes have been known as anticancer drugs and are used in the chemotherapeutic regimes of cancer patients. Catalytic efficiency and selectivity of platinum are highly dependent on the size and shape of the platinum materials. Therefore, the synthesis of platinum nanoparticles with small size and special shape can contribute to the lowering of Pt usage, enabling much-needed cost reduction [2]. The method used to assembly of metal nanoparticles at the oil–water interface involves dissolving organometallic precursor in organic layer and injecting appropriate reducing reagent in the aqueous layer. Herein, we present our attempts for synthesis of different organoplatinum complexes [3,4], platinum or palladium-based nanostructures for application in direct methanol fuel cell [5], C-C coupling reactions [6], reduction of p-nitrophenol [7] or as the cocatalyst for photocatalytic water splitting [8] and assembly of Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework (ZIF-8) at oil/water interface.