Pt Nanoclusters Electrodeposited on Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Electrochemical Catalysis

Single-walled carbon nanotube supported Pt (Pt-SWNT) catalysts with uniform Pt nanoclusters were successfully synthesized on the carbon electrode by a pulse electrodeposition technique. The morphology of the catalysts was characterized by scanning electron microscopy analysis. The electrocatalytic activities of the catalysts toward the methanol oxidation reaction and the oxygen reduction reaction were investigated by cyclic voltammetry measurements. In comparison with Pt-XC-72 catalysts prepared by the same method, the Pt-SWNT catalysts exhibited higher electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction. Electrochemical active surface area and chronoamperometry results indicated that Pt-SWNT catalysts had larger active surfaces. This may be attributed to the high dispersion of Pt catalysts and the unique properties of single-walled carbon nanotube support. The substructure of Pt particles also contributed to the enhanced active surfaces. Furthermore, the electron transition mechanism in the oxygen reduction reaction at the Pt-SWNT electrode is preliminarily discussed using the rotating disk electrode analysis.