Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. ›› 2013, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (05): 989-995.doi: 10.3866/PKU.WHXB201303121

• ELECTROCHEMISTRY AND NEW ENERGY • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spontaneous Deposition of Pt Nanoparticles on Poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)/Carbon Nanotube Hybrids and Their Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Methanol

CUI Ying1, KUANG Yin-Jie1,2, ZHANG Xiao-Hua1, LIU Bo3, CHEN Jin-Hua1   

  1. 1 State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, P. R. China;
    2 Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Materials Protection for Electric Power and Transportation, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha, 410114, P.R. China;
    3 Xi’an Taijin Industrial Electrochemical Technology Co., Ltd, Northwest Institute For Non-ferrous Metal Research, Xi’an 710016, PR China
  • Received:2012-12-17 Revised:2013-03-11 Published:2013-04-24
  • Supported by:

    The project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (2127504, 21235002, 21221003), Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, China (12JJ2010), and Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education, China (20110161110009).

Abstract:

Carbon nanotubes were non-covalently functionalized by poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA). Here, PDDA has three roles: reductant for the metal precursor of PtCl62-, stabilizer for in-situ produced Pt nanoparticles (Pt NPs), and anti-corrosion film for carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Surface-functionalization of CNTs with PDDA was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry, thermogravimetric analysis, and Raman spectroscopy. The results indicated that the surface of CNTs was successfully coated with PDDA film by π-π stacking interactions, and the functionalization process had no detrimental effect on the structure of the CNTs. The obtained catalyst (Pt NPs/ CNTs-PDDA) was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, and the results showed that Pt NPs with an average diameter of ca 2 nm were highly dispersed on the surface of CNTs-PDDA. The electrocatalytic properties of Pt NPs/CNTs-PDDA nanohybrids for methanol oxidation were further characterized by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Compared with Pt NPs supported on the pristine CNTs, the Pt NPs/CNTs-PDDA catalyst had higher electrochemical surface area and specific mass activity, and better stability towards methanol electro-oxidation.

Key words: Pt nanoparticle, Methanol, Electrocatalytic oxidation, PDDA, Carbon nanotube