It is demonstrated that stable basic carbons, which will not
adsorb oxygen in ambient laboratory conditions,
can be created via a relatively low-temperature process. These
highly basic carbons are created by treating
mixtures of carbons and platinum (in the form of particles supported on
a high surface area material) in
hydrogen at 500 °C, or even at lower temperatures in some cases.
In the absence of platinum, creation of
highly basic and stable surfaces with the same starting material
requires hydrogen treatments at far higher
temperatures (ca. 900 °C). Evidence is presented to support the
hypothesis that the role played by platinum
(or any noble metal) is to produce atomic hydrogen, which spills over
onto the carbon surface. This atomic
hydrogen hydrogasifies the most reactive, unsaturated carbon atoms at
far lower temperatures than molecular
hydrogen, thus leading to surface stabilization at relatively low
temperatures.
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