Structured nickel foam-based nitrogen-doped carbon-supported superhydrophobic platinum catalyst for water-hydrogen exchange reactions

Herein, a nickel foam (NF) (Phi 27 mm x 2 mm) was employed as a structured carrier. First, porous nitrogen-doped carbon (N-C) was synthesized in situ on this NF via a hydrothermal method followed by activation treatment. Subsequently, Pt particles were deposited on the N-C coated NF by reducing Pt in the high-valence state using H2. Finally, the superhydrophobic Pt/N-C/NF catalyst was fabricated via hydrophobic modification using 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-heptadecafluorodecyltrimethoxysilane, achieving a contact angle of 162 degrees. Results showed that the average particle size of Pt was only 1.41 nm and that the zero-valence Pt content was 65%. These outstanding properties endowed Pt/N-C/NF with excellent catalytic activity in water-hydrogen exchange reactions, achieving a total volumetric mass transfer coefficient of 7.60 x 10-2 s-1.