Effect of PVP, PVA and POLE surfactants on the size of iridium nanoparticles

Commonly transition metal nano particle are synthesized by physical, chemical or electrochemical methods. In the present work colloidal iridium nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical oxidation method with different surfactants like poly vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) and poly oxyethylene lauryl ether (POLE). It was found that shape and size of Ir-nano particles resulted were related to kind of capping agent (surfactant) used. The characterization of the synthesized nano particle has been carried out by UV-vis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) techniques. UV-vis and FT-IR confirm the oxidation of IrCl3 into IrO2 while XRD confirms the amorphous nature of the iridium nanoparticles synthesized. The morphology and size of the particle were confirmed by TEM. The average particle size determined by Scherrer equation was about 4.12 nm to 4.23 nm with PVP, 2.74 to 3.36 nm with PVA and 20.41 to 42.25 nm with POLE. Poly oxyethylene lauryl ether particles were not further analyzed because of their large size and less stability. Further particle size was confirmed with TEM, which was 4.5 nm with PVP and 7.0 nm with PVA. The particles are spherical with no agglomeration tendency.