Organically dispersible gold and platinum nanoparticles using aromatic amines as phase transfer and reducing agent and their applications in electro-oxidation of glucose

A single step method for the synthesis of Au and Pt nanoparticles by the spontaneous reduction of chloroaurate and chloroplatinate ions using hexadecaaniline molecules has been described. The importance of this work is that hexadecaaniline acts as a multifunctional molecule that accomplishes the complexation of aqueous chloroaurate and chloroplatinate ions by phase transferring them to CHCl3 medium and their subsequent reduction to yield Au and Pt nanoparticles in organic phase. Furthermore the metal reduction is followed by polymerization of the amine to yield polyaniline, which subsequently caps the Au and Pt nanoparticles. The process of reduction of the auric and platinic metal precursors and the subsequent capping of the Au and Pt nanoparticles has been elucidated by various analytical techniques like UV–vis, X-ray diffractogram (XRD) and transmission electron micrographic (TEM) analysis. Such prepared nanoparticles are utilized for the fabrication of novel modified electrodes towards the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose.