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Effect of reduction enhancer on a radiolytic synthesis of carbon-supported Pt–Cu nanoparticles and their structural and electrochemical properties

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Abstract

In order to clarify the effect of reduction enhancer on the nanoparticle formation process and their structural and catalytic properties, carbon-supported Pt–Cu nanoparticles were synthesized by electron beam irradiation on an aqueous precursor solution in the presence/absence of reduction enhancer. In the absence of reduction enhancer, tetravalent platinum oxide particles of approximately 1 nm in diameter were formed on carbon support with copper barely precipitated, while in the presence of 2-propanol or ethylene glycol or glucose both platinum and copper precipitated as few-nanometer-sized alloy particles together with copper oxides. It was suggested that the metal nuclei produced upon electron beam irradiation do not have enough lifetime without reduction enhancer due to fast oxidation of the nuclei by oxidizing radicals, while the reduction enhancer scavenges these oxidizing radicals preventing oxidation of metallic clusters and prolonging their lifetime. Ethylene glycol gave smaller and better alloyed particles with less copper oxides compared to 2-propanol since the carbonyl compounds derived from oxidation of ethylene glycol protect metallic clusters from oxidation further prolonging their lifetime. In the electrochemical measurements, the methanol oxidation activities of Pt–Cu/C catalysts were well explained by their structural characteristics.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Mr. K. Ueno (EBIS, Japan) for the provision of beam time for the electron accelerator. The authors thank partial supports from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (Grant-in-Aid No. 22241023 and No. 25410201), and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (R&D Project for Regional Innovation No. 22U5009).

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  1. Junichiro Kugai

    Present address: Department of Applied Chemistry, Kobe City College of Technology, 8-3 Gakuen-higashimachi, Nishi-ku, Kobe, Hyogo, 651-2194, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan

    Junichiro Kugai, Chihiro Kubota, Tomohisa Okazaki, Satoshi Seino, Takashi Nakagawa & Takao A. Yamamoto

  2. Institute of Materials Structure Science (IMSS), High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, 1-1 Oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0801, Japan

    Hiroaki Nitani

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  1. Junichiro Kugai
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Kugai, J., Kubota, C., Okazaki, T. et al. Effect of reduction enhancer on a radiolytic synthesis of carbon-supported Pt–Cu nanoparticles and their structural and electrochemical properties. J Nanopart Res 17, 239 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-015-3048-8

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