Comments on “Size dependence of the lattice parameters of carbon supported platinum nanoparticles: X-ray diffraction analysis and theoretical considerations,” RSC Adv., 2014, 4, 35959–35965

Leontyev and colleagues presented the results of an experiment and of its theoretical consequences. The interpretations were based on model-fits to that experiment. Unfortunately, they used two demonstrably incorrect parameters in their models. When the correct parameters are used, the best fits, and the corresponding theoretical implications, are interchanged. Specifically, they deduced an inapplicability of the Laplace–Young equation to the compression of nanoparticles. After their faulty parameters are corrected, this is no longer proven. An equation based on Laplace–Young pressure was dismissed by Leontyev et al., but when recalculated with corrected parameters, it fits their experimental data points.