Facile Fabrication of Platinum Nanoparticles Supported on Nitrogen-doped Carbon Nanotubes and Their Catalytic Activity

A facile impregnation method under mild condition is designed for synthesis of highly dis-persed Pt nanoparticles with a narrow size of 4-7 nm on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes(CN_x). CN_x do not need any pre-surface modification due to the inherent chemical activ-ity. The structure and nature of Pt/CN_x were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy spectrum. All the experimental results revealed that the large amount of doped nitrogen atoms in CN_x was virtually effective for capturing the Pt(IV) ions. The improved surface nitrogen functionalities and hydrophilicity contributed to the good dispersion and immobi-lization of Pt nanoparticles on the CN_x surface. The Pt/CN_x served as active and reusable catalysts in the hydrogenation of allyl alcohol. This could be attributed to high dispersion of Pt nanoparticles and stronger interaction between Pt and the supports, which prevented the Pt nanoparticles from aggregating into less active Pt black and from leaching as well.