Highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles supported on carbon nanotubes produced by atomic layer deposition for hydrogen generation from hydrolysis of ammonia borane

Abstract

Uniformly dispersed Pt nanoparticles with controlled size and loading supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are synthesized by atomic layer deposition (ALD) with (methylcyclopentadienyl)trimethylplatinum (MeCpPtMe₃) as the Pt precursor and ozone as the reactant gas. All the ALD-prepared Pt/CNT catalysts with various cycle numbers show excellent catalytic activities towards hydrolysis reaction of ammonia borane (AB), and especially the Pt/CNT catalyst produced with 20 ALD cycles exhibits the highest hydrogen generation rate among the ALD-prepared catalysts, with a total turnover frequency value as high as 416.5 mol_H2 mol_Pt⁻¹ min⁻¹. The porous TiO₂ overcoat further improves the durability of the Pt/CNT catalysts while preserving their catalytic activities.