It has been shown recently that by doping the carbon support with N-containing molecules, it is possible to provide a high density of active sites on the catalyst support, which ultimately leads to a high density of small Pt particles on the support and high catalytic activity with a much smaller amount of Pt.  Amorphous carbon is widely used as a support for Pt nanoparticle catalysts, however it is difficult to dope amorphous carbon and ensure that the dopant atoms are at the surface.  We show here that catalytic performance can be greatly improved by functionalizing the carbon black support with a nitrogen heterocycle using organic synthesis.  Vulcan� carbon black is covalently functionalized with 4-aminomethylpyridine (4AMP) via formation of an acid chloride on the surface followed by amidation.  The resulting 4AMP-functionalized Vulcan� (4AMP-VC) was thoroughly characterized and shown to contain N at the surface of the Vulcan� carbon support.  Pt nanoparticles grown on the 4AMP-VC have a smaller average size and much narrower size distribution than Pt nanoparticles grown on bare Vulcan� (VC).    In addition, the Pt/4AMP-VC catalysts show higher catalytic activity than their Pt/VC counterparts.  We infer through careful analysis of XPS spectra that the Pt nanoparticles bind preferentially to the pyridinic nitrogen of the 4AMP.  We also show our latest performance and durability data comparing our Pt/4AMP-VC catalyst to its Pt/VC counterpart.

Nitrogen functionalized carbon black: A support for Pt nanoparticle catalysts with narrow size dispersion and high surface area

248th National Meeting (2014)

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