HIGH-PERFORMANCE Pt/CNTs CATALYSTS VIA HYDROGEN PLASMA FOR METHANOL ELECTROOXIDATION

Abstract

High-performance carbon nanotubes-supported Pt catalysts (Pt/CNTs) catalysts were prepared on the basis of Pt precursors reduced by hydrogen plasma (Pt/CNTs-HP) generated by microwave. The other two Pt/CNTs catalysts prepared by hydrogen (Pt/CNTs-H) and NaBH 4 (Pt/CNTs-N) reduction were also involved for comparison. The practical composition of the catalysts was characterized with energy dispersive analysis of X-ray (EDAX). It was shown from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray di®raction (XRD) that the Pt nanoparticles in Pt/CNTs-HP were uniformly dispersed on CNTs with smaller particle size around 2 nm and narrower size distribution as compared with the other two catalysts. Additionally, X-ray photoelectron spectrum (XPS) analysis indicated higher amount of zero-valence states of Pt in Pt/CNTs-HP caused by hydrogen plasma treatment. The electrooxidation of liquid methanol on these catalysts was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and chronoamperometry. The long-time durability is very comparable to all the three catalysts. Remarkably, the Pt/CNTs-HP possessed the highest electrocatalytic activity, suggesting that the hydrogen plasma reduction approach can be a promising reduction method for preparing high-performance Pt-based electrocatalysts.

A Review on the Promising Plasma-Assisted Preparation of Electrocatalysts

“…By contrast, Xu et al [21] found that Pt nanoparticles in Pt/CNTs-HP prepared by H 2 plasma reduction of Pt-based precursor showed more uniform distribution on CNT with the particle size of about 2 nm. They had better MOR electrocatalytic activity than a traditional hydrogen reduced catalyst (Pt/CNTs-H) and NaBH 4 reduced catalyst (Pt/CNTs-N).…”

Mesoporous Carbon and Ceria Nanoparticles Composite Modified Electrode for the Simultaneous Determination of Hydroquinone and Catechol

“…Currently, some significant breakthroughs have been made concerning nanostructured carbon composite material in electrochemical sensors [19], catalysts [20,21,22,23], and supercapacitors [24]. Additionally, many ceria–carbon composites have been reported, such as CeO 2 /graphene [25], CeO 2 /g–C 3 N 4 [26], and MWCNTs/CeO 2 [27].…”