Dual roles of stearic acid in the synthesis of Co nanornaterials in polyol

The role of stearic acid in the synthesis of Co nanostructures in polyol was demonstrated to be structure directing and acidic etching agents. Lower concentration of stearic acid favors the formation of Co nanowires with the diameter of 10 nm and the length up to 1000 nm through the structure directing effect, whereas higher concentration of stearic acid tends to produce Co nanoparticles with size of 10-50 nm mainly because of the acidic etching effect. Both the nanowires and the nanoparticles can effectively catalyze hydrogenolysis of glycerol to propylene glycol, giving quite promising activity and selectivity under very mild conditions. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved