Facile and rapid synthesis of Pd nanodendrites for electrocatalysis and surface-enhanced Raman scattering applications

Numerous properties from metal nanostructures can be tuned by controlling both their size and shape. In
particular, the latter is extremely important because the type of crystalline surface affects the surface
electronic density. This paper describes a simple approach to the synthesis of highly-structured,
anisotropic palladium nanostructured dendrites. They were obtained using an eco-friendly biomolecule
5-hydroxytryptophan, which acts as both a reducing and stabilizing agent. The growth mechanism is
proposed for the evolution of dendrites morphology. It was found that the concentration of 5-
hydroxytryptophan played a vital role on the morphology of the nanostructured Pd dendrites. This
nanomaterial shows enhanced electrocatalytic performance towards the oxidation of formic acid, and it
exhibits surface-enhanced Raman scattering properties towards the prostate specific antigen. These
properties may be explored in fuel cells and biosensors, respectively