Technology Commercialization and Partnerships | BSA 08-34: Electrocatalysts on Carbon Nanoparticles

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Categories: advanced materials, energy

BSA 08-34: Electrocatalysts on Carbon Nanoparticles

BNL Reference Number: BSA 08-34

Patent Status: Application Number 20100177462 was published on July 15, 2010

Summary

A transmission electron micrograph showing a plurality of low-height Pt platelets formed on an underlying carbon substrate. The carbon substrate is shown as an amorphous, lighter-colored grey background whereas the regions of the surface coated with Pt are comparatively darker and exhibit lattice fringes, indicating some degree of crystalline order. The Pt platelets have an average diameter of approximately 3 to 5 nm.

Carbon nanostructures offer extremely high surface areas and so are attractive candidates to support dispersed catalysts. These nanostructures, however, are not necessarily as conductive as is required for most methods of deposition of noble metal catalysts onto support structures. The inventive catalysts include an atomically thin layer of a transition metal on the carbon nanostructure which is then coated with an atomically thin layer of a catalytically active noble metal. These catalysts can be used, for example, in supercapacitors, fuel cells, and batteries.

Description

A catalyst includes a carbon nanoparticle confromally coated with an atomically thin layer of transition metal which is at least partially encapsulated by an atomically thin layer of a catalytically active noble metal. An exemplary catalyst consists of a carbon nanohorn covered with an atomically thin layer of palladium which is covered by an atomically thin layer of platinum. A method for making such catalysts includes oxydizing the surface of the carbon nanostructure to generate a dipole at its surface, depositing a non-noble metal and then displacing it with a more noble metal, and finally depositing a second non-noble metal and replacing it with the catalytically active noble metal.

Benefits

Nanostructures with non-spheroidal shapes have very high surface areas. Depositing a sole monolayer of platinum on such structures allows virtually every Pt molecule to participate in catalytic activity, increasing the noble metal mass activity of the catalyst.