Synthesis of palladium concave Nanocubes with high-index facets and their catalytic properties

Palladium nanocrystals with a variety of shapes have received particular interest in recent years due to their unique properties in catalysis. Herein, Pd concave nanocubes with high‐index facets (Pd‐CNs) was synthesized by a simple water‐based route without seeds using L‐ascorbic acid (AA) as the reduction agent in the presence of CTAB. X‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were employed to demonstrate the formation of concave structures with high‐index facets of the Pd‐CNs with an average size of 17.5 nm. The as‐prepared Pd‐CNs presented significantly higher catalytic activity than commercial Pd/C (an average particle size of 4.7 nm) in the electro‐oxidation of methanol, but exhibited weaker property in Suzuki coupling reaction, which provided an evidence for the effect of shape and size on different reactions.