Obtaining Clean and Well-dispersed Pt NPs with a Microwave-assisted Method

V. ARMENDÁRIZ; C. A. MARTINS; H. E. TROIANI; L. C. S. DE OLIVEIRA; J. M. STROPA; G. A. CAMARA; M. E. MARTINS; P. S. FERNÁNDEZ

Electrocatalysis

Springer

Año: 2014 p. 279 - 287

1868-2529

Abstract Carbon-supported platinum nanoparticles Pt/C(NPs) are used in many fields of science. These kinds ofmaterials have been extensively studied in electrochemistrydue to the fact that they are applied in fuel cell technology.Although there are a myriad of methods for Pt NP synthesis,the need for obtaining Pt/C NPs with a good dispersion(covering over the entire support), a narrow size distribution,and clean surface (among other parameters) is far to be overcome.On this sense herein we describe a very easy and quickmethod of synthesis of highly dispersed Pt NPs followed by asimple electrochemical cleaning step. The catalysts were electrochemicallycharacterized by studying their behavior in0.5 M H2SO4 and also by using CO as a probe during theCO electro-oxidation reaction (COEOR). This paper showshow to obtain highly dispersed and clean Pt/C NPs thatproduce very reproducible results. Besides, we demonstratehow the presence of impurities negatively affects the electrochemicalreproducibility of Pt NPs with a clear impact on their