Resistance changes of carbon nanotubes decorated with platinum nanoparticles in the presence of hydrogen at different and constant concentrations

This work presents the outcome of research into the structure and resistance changes of composites containing carbon nanotubes (CNT) coated with platinum nanoparticles. High-quality CNTs obtained in the chemical vapor deposition process (100-200 mu m long, 10-20 nm in diameter) were employed in the research. Raw CNTs did not contain metallic impurities or amorphous carbon deposits. An indirect method of bonding the earlier produced platinum nanoparticles to the surface of functionalized CNTs was applied to deposit platinum nanoparticles onto the surface of CNTs. A surface of CNTs with uniformly distributed platinum nanoparticles was achieved as a result of the experiments undertaken. Investigations into the structure and morphology of the materials obtained were carried out with transmission electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy methods, and the X-ray structure analysis was used to identify the phase composition of the fabricated nanocomposites. The studies of changes in resistance were carried out with a constant and variable concentration of H-2 in the atmosphere of synthetic air. The goal of the research was the multifaceted characterization of the nanomaterials produced and to identify the response of the CNTs-platinum system to hydrogen in the atmosphere of synthetic air. (C) 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim