Composition-dependent formation of platinum silver nanowires

The understanding of shape control of colloidal nanoparticles is still rather limited even after well over a decade of intensive research efforts. While surface capping agents can greatly influence the growth habit of nanocrystals in solution, the formation of certain morphology can hardly be understood based on both experimental data and simulations. Without a good understanding of the origins for shape formation, deterministic approaches to the synthesis of nanostructures can be hard to realize. In this paper, we describe the synthesis and formation of PtAg alloy nanowires in the presence of oleylamine and oleic acid through the oriented attachment. Transmission electron microscopy study shows the formation of wormlike nanowires occurs largely at the composition around Pt₅₀Ag₅₀. Both Pt and Ag rich alloy nanostructures form sphere-like or faceted nanoparticles under the same reaction conditions. Density functional theory calculation is used to understand the interactions between the functional groups of capping agents and low index planes of PtAg alloys. The structural order of interfaces after collision between primary particles is obtained by molecular dynamic simulation. The results indicate that the formation of alloy nanowires is mostly driven by the interplay between the binding energy of capping agents on alloy surfaces and the diffusion of atoms at the interface upon the collision of primary nanoparticles.