Aqueous synthesis of Pt supported 3D flower-like Co3O4 nanostructures with thin nanosheets as building blocks

Uniform and monodisperse Pt supported Co3O4 nanoflowers with thin nanosheets as building blocks are successfully synthesized via a simple hydrothermal strategy followed by a morphology-kept calcining treatment. The growth mechanism has been studied indepth. The result has shown that such synthesis is highly sensitive to the concentration of urea, and more importantly, PVP and L-lysine which are also indispensable in that they are beneficial to the formation of sheet-like building blocks. In the following catalytic test for the CO oxidation reaction, the as-obtained Pt-Co3O4 nanoflower sample has shown much higher catalytic performance compared with a Pt-commercial Co3O4 sample.