Atomic Layer Deposition of Platinum Nanocatalysts onto Three-Dimensional Carbon Nanotube/Graphene Hybrid

Abstract

Nanoparticulate platinum (Pt) has been well dispersed onto a three-dimensional carbon framework, consisting of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene oxide (GO) sheets, through an atomic layer deposition (ALD) route. One liquid-phase homogenizing process is capable of inserting a number of CNTs into the interspacing of GO sheets, forming the CNT#GO hybrid. Two types of ALD precursors, methylcyclopentadienyl-(trimethyl) platinum and oxygen were used to grow Pt deposits at 250 °C. The ALD cycle number acts as a key parameter in affecting the growth of Pt into the CNT#GO framework, showing growth rates of 0.054 nm cycle −1 and 0.00081 mg cm −2 cycle −1 for particle size and weight loading, respectively. The particle size of as-grown Pt deposits exhibits an increase from 2.27 to 12.32 nm within 50−200 ALD cycles. Single-stack cell test confirms the novel design of Pt catalyst electrodes with ultralow Pt loading displaying a superior catalytic activity, showing a promising feasibility for application in fuel cells.

Recent advances in hybrid support material for Pt‐based electrocatalysts of proton exchange membrane fuel cells

“…In spite of aforesaid excellent properties, the stability issue still persists. So efforts have been done to combine the CNTs with another material such as metal oxides (SnO 2 , TiO 2 , and MnO 2 ), conducting polymers (eg, PANI), nitrides (TiN and WN), and graphene and employ them as support of Pt . For example, Ramesh at el.…”

“…So efforts have been done to combine the CNTs with another material such as metal oxides (SnO 2 , TiO 2 , and MnO 2 ), conducting polymers (eg, PANI), nitrides (TiN and WN), and graphene and employ them as support of Pt. [92][93][94][95][96][97][98] For example, Ramesh at el. reported single-wall nanotube (SWNT)-multiwall nanotube (MWNT) hybrid architecture as a catalyst support for PEMFC applications.…”

Electrocatalysts by atomic layer deposition for fuel cell applications

“…Hsieh et al [151] directly deposited Pt NPs by ALD on a gas diffusion electrode consists of CNT and GO as shown in Figure 11A. The membrane electrode assembly (MEA) was fabricated using the ALD-Pt electrode as the anode to study the performance of a single cell.…”

Scalable Production of Nanostructured Particles using Atomic Layer Deposition

“…Moreover, the technique has also been used for the doping of Co-based Fischer-Tropsch catalysts with small amounts of Pt (0.1 wt.%) that acts as a promoter (Cronauer et al, 2011). Recognizing the technique's potential for creating the high dispersion characteristics necessary in fuel cell applications, ALD has been used for the decoration of relevant carbon-based supports such as carbon aerogel, tungsten-carbide, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, graphene nanosheets and carbon nanotube/graphene oxide hybrid materials (Hsieh et al, 2012;Hsu et al, 2012;Hsueh et al, 2012;King et al, 2008;Sun et al, 2013). Additionally, bimetallic Ru-Pt and Pt-Pd catalysts have also been fabricated (Christensen et al, 2010;Lei et al, 2012).…”