Facile single-step preparation of Pt/N-graphene catalysts with improved methanol electrooxidation activity

In this work, we describe a facile single-step approach for the simultaneous reduction of graphene oxide to graphene, functional doping of graphene with nitrogen, and loading of the doped graphene with well-dispersed platinum (Pt) nanoparticles using a solvent mixture of ethylene glycol and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone. The as-prepared Pt/nitrogen-doped graphene (N-graphene) catalysts are characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy while the electrocatalytic methanol oxidation properties of the catalysts are evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Compared with an updoped Pt/graphene control catalyst, the Pt/N-graphene catalyst shows a narrower particle size distribution and improved catalytic performance. Considering the facile, green and effective single-step synthetic process for the Pt/N-graphene catalyst, the results are promising for the potential application of these materials in emerging fuel cell technologies.     

氢水液相交换反应用高分散度Pt/C/FN疏水催化剂制备及Pt粒径效应研究

以乙二醇代替常规的异丙醇为分散溶剂, H₂PtCl₆为前驱体溶剂, 甲醛为还原剂, 采用改进浸渍还原法制备Pt/C催化剂, 用XRD, TEM和XPS对其进行表征. 改进浸渍还原法容易制备高分散度Pt/C催化剂, 催化剂Pt粒径大小可通过改变溶液pH值控制, pH值从1.6增加至11.3, 铂纳米粒子的平均粒径由3.3 nm减小到1.8 nm. pH值11.3时催化剂中Pt(0), Pt(II)和Pt(IV)的含量分别为43.3%, 30.8%和25.9%. 选择不同Pt粒径大小的Pt/C催化剂与聚四氟乙烯(PTFE)一起负载于泡沫镍(FN), 得到Pt/C/FN疏水催化剂, 考查其对氢水液相交换反应的催化活性, Pt粒径越小, 催化剂活性越高.     

High loading of Pt–Ru nanocatalysts by pentagon defects introduced in a bamboo-shaped carbon nanotube support for high performance anode of direct methanol fuel cells

Bamboo-shaped carbon nanotubes (BCNTs), with a large amount of pentagon defects introduced in the walls, were explored as the support of high loaded Pt–Ru catalysts for the anode of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) in comparison with conventional carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and Vulcan XC carbon black. By ethylene glycol reduction, Pt–Ru catalysts with a high loading (60 wt%) and uniform particle size of 2–3 nm were uniformly deposited on BCNTs; while 60 wt% Pt–Ru catalysts on CNTs resulted in significant agglomeration. The Pt–Ru/BCNT catalyst showed the highest activity on methanol oxidation in cyclic voltammetry and highest performance as the anode in a DMFC single cell. Such an enhancement was largely ascribed to an enhanced interaction of the introduced pentagon defects with Pt–Ru, which could promote a high loading and well dispersion of Pt–Ru catalysts and the charge transfer from Pt–Ru to the tubes.     

The mechanism of ethylene polymerization by nickel salicylaldiminato catalysts - Agostic interactions and their kinetic isotope effects

The ethylene polymerization reaction of a neutral nickel catalyst was studied by DFT calculations at the Becke3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory. As in related cases a β-agostic bond stabilizes the nickel alkyl ground states. Transition states for the insertion of the olefin show a distinct α-agostic interaction, which has not been observed for late metal polymerization catalysts before. An ethylene-alkyl complex was identified as the resting state of the reaction. The overall barrier height of the reaction amounts to 17.54 kcal/mol, which slightly increases to 17.60 kcal/mol for the polymerization of deuterated ethylene. Therefore, a small positive kinetic isotope effect (k_H/k_D = 1.09) can be calculated, which is caused by the α-agostic interaction in the transition state. A comparison to other late metal based polymerization systems reveals that the ethylene coordination step of highly active catalysts is significantly lower in energy compared to catalysts which are only moderately active.     

炭黑负载Pt-Sn双金属催化剂对乙醇的电催化氧化性能

采用一步还原法(乙二醇为还原剂)与两步还原法(在聚乙烯吡咯烷酮PVP保护下,先用硼氢化钠还原制备Sn溶胶,沉积Pt后用乙二醇还原)制备了炭黑负载Pt-Sn双金属催化剂,利用循环伏安法和计时电流法考察了催化剂制备方法、Pt/Sn原子比、溶液p H值、PVP/Sn质量比、反应介质等对乙醇室温电催化氧化活性和稳定性的影响.以X光衍射、透射电镜及电化学活性面积测定对所得催化剂进行了表征.发现引入Sn明显提高了Pt催化剂对乙醇的电催化活性与稳定性,两步还原法得到的Pt3Sn/C催化剂具有更小的颗粒尺寸,更大的电化学活性面积及更高的乙醇氧化活性与稳定性.与酸性介质相比,该催化剂在碱性介质中的电化学活性更好.     

溶剂热助乙二醇还原法制备Pt/C催化剂过程中酸碱配位机制及工艺参数优化

质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFCs)能量转换率高,反应产物仅为H2O、不造成污染,是一种极具发展前景的能源转换装置.然而, PEMFCs的阴极氧还原反应(ORR)动力学缓慢、过电位高.由于Pt对ORR中间产物脱吸附能适中,因此, Pt/C成为电催化ORR的商业化催化剂,对其制备技术的研究成为该领域的研究热点.乙二醇(EG)还原法制备碳载Pt基催化剂是一种常见方法, EG作为还原剂的同时,还起到保护剂和分散剂的作用,使制备的催化剂具有均一性.EG在外界能量的活化下,分解生成H2O和CH3CHO, CH3CHO作为还原剂将H2Pt Cl6还原生成Pt单质颗粒,同时生成的CH3COO-由于静电排斥可以防止Pt粒子团聚.常见的外界能量的活化方法有脉冲微波法、回流法、溶剂热法等,其中溶剂热法采用高压釜作为反应容器,抗干扰能力强,工艺操作简单、反应快速、耗能较少、成本低廉,极易于实现工业化生产;值得注意的是,无论使用何种方法对Pt前驱体混合液给予活化能使其发生还原,其碱的含量都会对最终所得催化剂的电催化ORR活性有着显著的影响,因此,通过跟踪前驱体混合液中含Pt物种的变化路径,揭示催化剂制备过程中的碱调控机理,实现加入碱的定量化,对于大规模制备高效Pt/C催化剂具有重要的意义.因此,本文采用溶剂热助EG还原法合成Pt/C催化剂的技术,创新联用UV-vis和H+浓度探针技术,揭示了前驱体混合液中含Pt物种的配位过程,实现了加入碱的定量化.发现当m(Na OH):m(Pt)达到2:1时, Pt配位完成;进而通过优化反应温度、反应时间等参数,成功制备了高效Pt/C催化剂:当反应温度为140 oC,反应时间为2 h时,所得催化剂在酸性条件下,相对于商业化Pt/C具有更高的电催化ORR活性,其起始ORR还原电位达到0.95 V(商业化Pt/C为0.90 V),半波电位为0.82 V(商业化Pt/C为0.75 V),该工作对于工业化大批量生产高效Pt/C催化剂具有重要的意义.     

Catalytic oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Oxidation of o-xylene over Pd and Pt/HFAU catalysts

The transformation of o-xylene in low concentration (1 700 ppmv) into air was investigated over Pd and Pt/HFAU catalysts (framework Si/Al ratio equal to 17 and 100). Whatever the catalyst, o-xylene oxidation into CO₂ and H₂O is accompanied by the retention within the zeolite pores of heavy compounds (‘coke’). The relative significance of these reactions depends on the operating conditions (temperature, time-on-stream) and on the catalyst characteristics (Pd or Pt, Si/Al ratio). Over Pt and Pd/HFAU(17), time-on-stream has a positive effect on the xylene oxidation apparently related to the reducibility of Pd and Pt species during the reaction. The higher activity of Pt/HFAU catalysts can be attributed to its greater number of active species (especially Pt⁰). Those active species can be more rapidly formed than Pd⁰ by auto reduction during the calcination of Pt precursor. Whatever the metal, the higher the Si/Al ratio of the support, the faster the xylene oxidation and the lower the coke formation. This can be related to the higher proportion of reduced species (Pd⁰ and Pt⁰) formed on the more dealuminated catalyst but also to the hydrophobicity of the support. Indeed, the hydrophobicity of the zeolite play a positive role in the oxidation activity in presence of steam; the higher the Si/Al ratio of the zeolite, the faster the o-xylene oxidation. Thus a catalyst with a low platinum content supported on a hydrophobic zeolite (0.10 Pt/HFAU(100)) allows to oxidising totally o-xylene at 210 °C in presence of steam.     

Study on chemisorption of H<Subscript>2</Subscript>, O<Subscript>2</Subscript>, CO and C<Subscript>2</Subscript>H<Subscript>4</Subscript>on Pt-Ag/SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>catalysts by microcalorimetry and FTIR

Adsorption microcalorimetry has been employed to study the interaction of ethylene with the reduced and oxidized Pt-Ag/SiO₂catalysts with different Ag contents to elucidate the modified effect of Ag towards the hydrocarbon processing on platinum catalysts. In addition, microcalorimetric adsorption of H₂, O₂, CO and FTIR of CO adsorption were conducted to investigate the influence of Ag on the surface structure of Pt catalyst. It is found from the microcalorimetric results of H₂and O₂adsorption that the addition of Ag to Pt/SiO₂leads to the enrichment of Ag on the catalyst surface which decreases the size of Pt surface ensembles of Pt-Ag/SiO₂catalysts. The microcalorimetry and FTIR of CO adsorption indicates that there still exist sites for linear and bridged CO adsorption on the surface of platinum catalysts simultaneously although Ag was incorporated into Pt/SiO₂. The ethylene microcalorimetric results show that the decrease of ensemble size of Pt surface sites suppresses the formation of dissociative species (ethylidyne) upon the chemisorption of C₂H₄on Pt-Ag/SiO₂. The differential heat vs. uptake plots for C₂H₄adsorption on the oxygen-preadsorbed Pt/SiO₂and Pt-Ag/SiO₂catalysts suggest that the incorporation of Ag to Pt/SiO₂could decrease the ability for the oxidation of C₂H₄.     

Degradation of Pt/C catalysts in start-stop cycling tests

The stability of highly disperse 50 wt % Pt catalysts deposited on carbon supports with various porosity and morphology is tested in accelerated oxidative experiments in the potential range of 1–1.5 V (RHE) in 0.1 M HClO₄ solution. The electrochemically active surface area of platinum (S _Pt) is determined based on the charge of adsorbed hydrogen by the cyclic voltammetry (CVA) method. The specific activity per mass unit (the mass catalytic activity (MCA)) and the electrochemically active surface area of the active component (surface catalytic activity (SCA)) are determined in the oxygen electroreduction reaction (OERR) by the method of rotating disk electrode (RDE). It is shown that the catalyst degradation is mainly due to the growth of Pt particles and the corrosion of the carbon support. It is found that under these cycling conditions, the rate of the S _Pt decline depends inversely on the cycle number throughout the cycling interval (up to 60000 cycles) for all catalysts, which points to the quadratic dependence of the degradation rate on S _Pt. Two regions are revealed in the MCA and SCA dependences on the cycle number, In the first region (from 0 to 8–10 thousand cycles), a sharp decrease in MCA and SCA is observed for all catalysts, which can be associated with the restructuring or passivation of the Pt particle surface due to the oxide formation on oxidative cycling. In the second region, the relative stabilization of MCA and the linear increase in SCA are observed for all catalysts without exception. The linear increase in SCA is due to the growth of Pt particles and the size effect. It is shown that carbonization of the carbon support leads to enhancement of its cycling stability.     

Differentiation of O-H and C-H bond scission mechanisms of ethylene glycol on Pt and Ni/Pt using theory and isotopic labeling experiments

Understanding and controlling bond-breaking sequences of oxygenates on transition metal catalysts can greatly impact the utilization of biomass feedstocks for fuels and chemicals. The decomposition of ethylene glycol, as the simplest representative of biomass-derived polyols, was studied via density functional theory (DFT) calculations to identify the differences in reaction pathways between Pt and the more active Ni/Pt bimetallic catalyst. Comparison of the computed transition states indicated three potentially feasible paths from ethylene glycol to C1 oxygenated adsorbates on Pt. While not important on Pt, the pathway to 1,2-dioxyethylene (OCH(2)CH(2)O) is favored energetically on the Ni/Pt catalyst. Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) experiments were conducted with deuterated ethylene glycols for comparison with DFT results. These experiments confirmed that decomposition of ethylene glycol on Pt proceeds via initial O-H bond cleavage, followed by C-H and the second O-H bond cleavages, whereas on the Ni/Pt surface, both O-H bonds are cleaved initially. The results are consistent with vibrational spectra and indicate that tuning of the catalyst surface can selectively control bond breaking. Finally, the significant mechanistic differences in decomposition of polyols compared to that of monoalcohols and hydrocarbons serve to identify general trends in bond scission sequences.     

Preparing hydrogenation catalysts via the simultaneous reduction of graphite oxide and platinum(IV)

The simultaneous reduction of Pt(IV) and graphite oxide is performed for the preparation of hydrogenation catalysts. It is shown that of the four studied reducing agents (formate ion, ethylene glycol, sodium borohydride, and hydrazine), only NaBH₄ and hydrazine can be used in the preparation of catalysts. It is assumed that Pt particles (≥2 nm) are fixed to the defects, vacancies, and functional groups that are formed as a result of reduction. The prepared compositions catalyze the hydrogenation of decene-1 and nitrobenzene (45°C, 1 atm H₂) with specific activities comparable to those in the literature.     

一步法制备还原态氧化石墨烯载铂纳米粒子及其对甲醇氧化的电催化性能

以天然石墨为原料,采用改进的Hummers法制备氧化石墨.然后采用简单的一步化学还原法在乙二醇(EG)中同时还原氧化石墨烯(GO)和H₂PtCl₆制备高分散的铂/还原态氧化石墨烯(Pt/RGO)催化剂.采用傅里叶变换红外(FTIR)光谱、X射线衍射(XRD)和透射电子显微镜(TEM)对催化剂的微结构、组成和形貌进行表征.结果表明, GO已被还原成RGO, Pt纳米粒子均匀分散在RGO表面,粒径约为2.3 nm.采用循环伏安法和计时电流法评价催化剂对甲醇氧化的电催化性能,测试结果表明, Pt/RGO催化剂对甲醇氧化的电催化活性和稳定性与Pt/C和Pt/CNT相比有了很大提高.另外其对甲醇电催化氧化的循环伏安图中正扫峰电流密度(I_f)和反扫峰电流密度(I_b)的比值高达1.3,分别是Pt/C和Pt/CNT催化剂的2.2和1.9倍,表明Pt/RGO催化剂具有高的抗甲醇氧化中间体CO_ad的中毒能力.     

Pt/CNT纳米催化剂的微波快速合成及其对甲醇电化学氧化的电催化性能

碳纳米管 (CNT)作为制备新型催化剂载体已有广泛的研究 [1～ 8] ,例如 ,在其表面负载 Pt,Ru和Pt Ru后则具有良好的催化性能[1,2 ,6～ 8] .但在 CNT表面负载金属微粒的方法难以获得尺寸和形状均匀的纳米粒子 .因此 ,如何制备超细和均匀的纳米粒子是一项具有重要的学术意义和技术价值的工作 .我们利用微波加热的多元醇工艺合成了 XC-72碳负载铂纳米粒子的催化剂 ,并发现它对甲醇的氧化具有较高的电催化活性 [9] .本文进一步以 CNT作为载体 ,利用微波加热法快速合成了 Pt/ CNT纳米催化剂 ,并对其对甲醇电化学氧化的性能进行了初步研究 …     

Ethanol electro-oxidation on catalysts with TiO2 coated carbon nanotubes as support

Pt–TiO₂/CNTs electrocatalysts for direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) were prepared by sol–gel and ethylene glycol reduction method. XRD and TEM showed that the size of the Pt particles on TiO₂/CNTs is 3.5–4 nm and with narrow particle size distribution. HRTEM revealed that a thin layer of uniform amorphous TiO₂ on CNTs was formed and the faces of the Pt crystal on Pt–TiO₂/CNTs catalysts were quite “rough” and “rounded” and some grain bounders and/or twins also appeared. The electrochemical studies using cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry and CO stripping voltammetry indicate that Pt–TiO₂/CNTs catalysts have higher electro-catalytic activity and CO-tolerance for ethanol oxidation than Pt/C (20 wt% Pt, E-TEK) and Pt/CNTs catalyst in acid. The Pt/TiO₂ molar ratio was also optimized and proved that 1:1 was the best Pt/TiO₂ molar ratio.     

Carbon-supported IrSn catalysts for a direct ethanol fuel cell

Carbon-supported Ir₃Sn/C and Ir/C catalysts were simply prepared with NaBH₄ as a reducing agent under the protection of ethylene glycol at room temperature. TEM and X-ray diffraction (XRD) data showed that the catalysts with small particle size exhibited the typical characteristic of a crystalline Ir fcc structure. Their electro-catalytic activities in comparison with Pt/C and Pt₃Sn/C catalysts also prepared by the NaBH₄ reduction process were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and chronoamperometry (CA) techniques. The results indicated that Ir-based catalysts showed superior electro-catalytic activity towards ethanol oxidation to Pt/C and Pt₃Sn/C catalysts, mainly at low potential region. During single-cell tests at 90 °C, better performances of Ir-based catalysts as anodes were obtained compared to that of Pt/C catalyst. The comparable overall performance of Ir₃Sn/C to Pt₃Sn/C makes it a promising alternative choice of anode catalyst for direct ethanol fuel cells.     

Silicon hydrides and nickel complexes : II. Mechanism of the hydrosilylation catalyzed by nickel-phosphine complexes

Two ethylene-nickel(0) complexes, viz., [1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane]-(ethylene)nickel(0) and bis(triphenylphosphine)(ethylene)nickel(0) have been used in a comparison of their catalytic activities in hydrosilylation reactions with those of the corresponding nickel(II) complexes, viz., dichloro [1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)-ethane]nickel(II) and dichlorobis(triphenylphosphine)nickel(II). The reaction profiles are similar, apart from a significant difference in the induction period; the nickel(II) catalysts requiring a substantially longer time. A mechanism involving a nickel(0) species is proposed for the hydrosilylation.The interchange of hydrogen and chlorine on silicon accompanying the hydrosilylation is related to a high electron density at the nickel atom bearing the phosphine, olefin, and silicon hydride ligands.     

Microwave-assisted polyol synthesis of carbon-supported platinum-based bimetallic catalysts for ethanol oxidation

High surface area carbon-supported Pt, PtRh, and PtSn catalysts were synthesized by microwave-assisted polyol procedure and tested for ethanol oxidation in perchloric acid. The catalysts were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), TEM, and EDX techniques. STM analysis of unsupported catalysts shows that small particles (～2?nm) with a narrow size distribution are obtained. TEM and XRD examinations of supported catalysts revealed an increase in particle size upon deposition on carbon support (diameter?～?3?nm). The diffraction peaks of the bimetallic catalysts in X-ray diffraction patterns are slightly shifted to lower (PtSn/C) or higher (PtRh/C) 2θ values with respect to the corresponding peaks at Pt/C catalyst as a consequence of alloy formation. Oxidation of ethanol is significantly improved at PtSn/C with the onset potential shifted for?～?150?mV to more negative values and the increase of activity for approximately three times in comparison to Pt/C catalyst. This is the lowest onset potential found for ethanol oxidation at PtSn catalysts with a similar composition. Chronoamperometric measurements confirmed that PtSn/C is notably less poisoned than Pt/C catalyst. PtRh/C catalyst exhibited mild enhancement of overall electrochemical reaction in comparison to Pt/C.     

Carbon-based catalysts: Synthesis and applications

This paper summarizes the main results obtained by the Fuel Combustion Group in three applications: (1) carbon-based catalysts for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) process of NO_x, (2) Pt and Pt–Ru catalysts for direct alcohol fuel cells, (3) carbon-supported catalysts for the electroreduction of CO₂. Concerning the first aspect, low-cost catalysts able to work at lower temperatures have been prepared and compared with commercial catalysts; for the second one, new catalysts for methanol and ethanol electrochemical oxidation exhibiting current densities that are double those of the commercial ones have been developed; as regards the third one, carbon-supported catalysts for the electroreduction of CO₂ based on Fe and Pd were synthesized and tested. Formic acid was obtained as the main product on all Fe/C electrodes.     

质子交换膜燃料电池Pd修饰Pt/C催化剂的电催化性能

通过对Pt催化剂表面进行Pd修饰提高质子交换膜燃料电池阴极催化剂的氧还原反应(ORR)活性. 采用乙二醇还原法制备了不同比例的Pd修饰Pt/C催化剂. 透射电镜(TEM)和X射线衍射(XRD)测试结果表明, 制备的催化剂贵金属颗粒粒径主要分布在1.75～2.50 nm之间, 并均匀地分散在碳载体表面. 循环伏安方法(CV)研究表明Pd修饰Pt/C催化剂的电化学活性面积低于传统的Pt/C催化剂. 但通过旋转圆盘电极(RDE)测试研究发现, 制备的催化剂具有比传统Pt/C催化剂高的ORR活性.     

Selective hydroisomerization of n-dodecane over platinum supported on zeolites

In this study, in order to develop catalysts for the selective isomerization of higher paraffin, the hydroisomerization reaction of n-dodecane was performed as a model reaction. Pt/ZSM-48, Pt/HZSM-5, Pt/HY, and Pt/SAPO-11 were examined for the selective hydroisomerization of n-dodecane. The catalysts were characterized via X-ray powder diffraction, N₂ adsorption, and the temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia. Among the catalysts studied, the Pt/HZSM-48 catalyst exhibited the best isomerization selectivity in the hydroisomerization reaction of n-dodecane, which is attributed to the moderate acid sites and medium-sized pores present in the HZSM-48. The highest iso-dodecane yield was obtained at a reaction temperature of 280 °C in the Pt/HZSM-48 catalyst. The optimal selectivity of the n-dodecane hydroisomerization over the Pt/SAPO-11 catalyst was obtained at approximately 300 °C, which was slightly higher than that of the Pt/HZSM-48 catalyst.