Aniline as a Dispersant and Stabilizer for the Preparation of Pt Nanoparticles Deposited on Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

A novel method has been developed to debundle carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and load Pt nanoparticles on them without damaging their graphene structures. In this article, the aniline acts as a very efficient dispersing agent to debundle CNTs from 200 to 50 nm at a very low concentration of 0.5% in an IPA/water solution. The aniline-stabilized CNTs have a larger pore volume and larger amount of mesopores than pristine CNTs, and the debundling of CNTs by aniline appears to be a physical rather than a chemical process. Meanwhile, under the presence of aniline, the Pt nanoparticles are anchored on CNTs with a uniform dispersion and small particle size distribution (1.9 ± 0.4, 2.1 ± 0.3, and 2.4 ± 0.4 nm for 14.9%, 29.1%, and 49.0% Pt/CNT, respectively). It is clear that aniline functions as a dispersant and a stabilizer in this paper. These nanocomposites are applied as electrocatalysts for the cathode of a direct methanol fuel cell. The electrochemical active surface areas of Pt/CNT catalysts are higher than that of E-TEK. Compared to the E-TEK cathode catalyst, the mass activity of Pt in 14.9% Pt/CNT is 45.9 W g−1 Pt, which is about 50% higher than that of E-TEK (31.4 W g−1 Pt). The result indicates that aniline is an efficient dispersant and stabilizer for the preparation of Pt nanoparticles deposited on CNTs. Additionally, the whole process, which could be easily scaled up for industrial production, is simple, efficient, and inexpensive.

Co-Assembly of Nanoparticles in Evaporating Aerosol Droplets: Preparation of Nanoporous Pt/TiO2Composite Particles

“…Such supports could have additional catalytic advantages since their open structures could facilitate the diffusion and adsorption of reactants. Activated carbon, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon nanosheets, and silica (SiO 2 ) gel have often been employed as supports for Pt nanoparticles in catalytic applications (Kim et al 2006;Merlo et al 2008;Li et al 2009;Miyatake et al 2009;Yoo et al 2009;Hsu et al 2010;Winjobi et al 2010). TiO 2 nanoparticles have also been used as a support material to enhance the catalytic activity of Pt (Lin et al 2008;Sarkar et al 2008;Chen and Pan 2009;Guo et al 2009;Shanmugam and Gedanken 2009b;Wen et al 2009).…”

Preparation and Characterization of MWCNT-g-Poly (Aniline-co-DABSA)/Nafion®Nanocomposite Membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

“…Aniline is very effective in debundling MWCNTs from 200 to 50 nm. 16 Thus, strategies can be developed for both debundling MWCNTs and further addition of sulfonate groups to aniline by polymerization followed by sulfonation.…”

In Situ Solution Process for Fabricating Thermally and Mechanically Stable Highly Conductive ZnO-CNT Fiber Composites

“…Furthermore, CNT fiber devices offer low efficiency photoelectric conversion and energy storage properties [5,13]. The deposition of a variety of metal oxides (MnO 2 [14], NiO [15], RuO 2 [16], V 2 O 5 [17], TiO 2 [3], ZnO [18]) or metal nanoparticles (Pt [19], PtRu [20], PtSn [21], Pd [22], Au [22], Ru [23], Ag [24]) onto the CNT fiber surfaces has been reported to improve the electrochemical and optical properties of CNT fibers. Metal oxides or metal nanoparticles are typically deposited randomly and inhomogeneously onto CNT fibers.…”

“…The smooth deposition of metal or metal oxide nanoparticles is necessary for enhancing the electronic and optical properties of CNT fibers. Smooth deposition requires CNT pretreatment, CNT functionalization, CNT acid oxidation, surfactant introduction, or particular fabrication processes [19][20][21][22][23][24]. Unfortunately, the electrical conductivity of a CNT fiber typically decreases upon deposition of semiconductive nanoparticles onto the CNT surfaces.…”