Effect of ionic liquid on the synthesis and electrocatalytic property of platinum-based bimetallic nanoparticles

Because of their many distinct advantages, the application of ionic liquids (ILs) for the synthesis and tailoring of nanoscale metal catalysts represents a burgeoning direction in materials chemistry. We herein depict the using of ammonium dibutyl phosphate ([AD]PO4), an organic soluble ionic liquid as an additive for the synthesis of Pt-based nanoparticles at elevated temperature in oleylamine. The experimental results reveal that not only the size/morphology, but also the electrocatalytic property of the platinum (Pt)-based bimetallic nanoparticles could be significantly tuned by a small amount of ionic liquid added in the reaction systems. For the silver (Ag)-Pt bimetallic system, core-shell Ag-Pt nanoparticles with dense or dendritic Pt shells are obtained at IL/oleylamine volume ratio of 0.25/10 and 0.5/10, while for gold (Au)-Pt bimetalic system, although the tuning of IL on the size/morphology of the particles are not apparent, the core-shell Au-Pt nanoparticles synthesized at IL/oleylamine volume ratio of 0.5/20 exhibit superior catalytic activity and durability for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR), compared to those prepared at other volume ratios. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.