Hydrothermal Synthesis of Ultrasmall Pt Nanoparticles as Highly Active Electrocatalysts for Methanol Oxidation

Wenhai Ji; Weihong Qi; Shasha Tang; Hongcheng Peng; Siqi Li

doi:10.3390/nano5042203

Hydrothermal Synthesis of Ultrasmall Pt Nanoparticles as Highly Active Electrocatalysts for Methanol Oxidation

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2015 Dec 8;5(4):2203-2211. doi: 10.3390/nano5042203.

Authors

Wenhai Ji¹, Weihong Qi^{2

3

4}, Shasha Tang⁵, Hongcheng Peng⁶, Siqi Li⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China. jwh1988@csu.edu.cn.
² School of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China. qiwh216@csu.edu.cn.
³ Institute for Materials Microstructure, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China. qiwh216@csu.edu.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Non-Ferrous Materials Science and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, China. qiwh216@csu.edu.cn.
⁵ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China. tang0360@ntu.edu.sg.
⁶ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China. 133111028@csu.edu.cn.
⁷ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China. 9901090160@csu.edu.cn.

Abstract

Ultrasmall nanoparticles, with sizes in the 1-3 nm range, exhibit unique properties distinct from those of free molecules and larger-sized nanoparticles. Demonstrating that the hydrothermal method can serve as a facile method for the synthesis of platinum nanoparticles, we successfully synthesized ultrasmall Pt nanoparticles with an average size of 2.45 nm, with the aid of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) as reducing agents and capping agents. Because of the size effect, these ultrasmall Pt nanoparticles exhibit a high activity toward the methanol oxidation reaction.

Keywords: PVP; hydrothermal method; methanol oxidation; ultrasmall nanoparticles.