New Insights into Selective Heterogeneous Nucleation of Metal Nanoparticles on Oxides by Microwave-Assisted Reduction: Rapid Synthesis of High-Activity Supported Catalysts

Anumol, EA and Kundu, Paromita and Deshpande, Parag Arvind and Madras, Giridhar and Ravishankar, Narayanan (2011) New Insights into Selective Heterogeneous Nucleation of Metal Nanoparticles on Oxides by Microwave-Assisted Reduction: Rapid Synthesis of High-Activity Supported Catalysts. In: ACS Nano, 5 (10). pp. 8049-8061.

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Abstract

Microwave-based methods are widely employed to synthesize metal nanoparticles on various substrates. However, the detailed mechanism of formation of such hybrids has not been addressed. In this paper, we describe the thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of reduction of metal salts by ethylene glycol under microwave heating conditions. On the basis of this analysis, we identify the temperatures above which the reduction of the metal salt is thermodynamically favorable and temperatures above which the rates of homogeneous nucleation of the metal and the heterogeneous nucleation of the metal on supports are favored. We delineate different conditions which favor the heterogeneous nucleation of the metal on the supports over homogeneous nucleation in the solvent medium based on the dielectric loss parameters of the solvent and the support and the metal/solvent and metal/support interfacial energies. Contrary to current understanding, we show that metal particles can be selectively formed on the substrate even under situations where the temperature of the substrate Is lower than that of the surrounding medium. The catalytic activity of the Pt/CeO(2) and Pt/TiO(2) hybrids synthesized by this method for H(2) combustion reaction shows that complete conversion is achieved at temperatures as low as 100 degrees C with Pt-CeO(2) catalyst and at 50 degrees C with Pt-TiO(2) catalyst. Our method thus opens up possibilities for rational synthesis of high-activity supported catalysts using a fast microwave-based reduction method.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	ACS Nano
Publisher:	American Chemical Society
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to American Chemical Society.
Keywords:	heterogeneous nucleation;interfacial energy;supported catalysts;microwave-assisted synthesis;dielectric loss; hydrogen combustion
Department/Centre:	Division of Chemical Sciences > Materials Research Centre Division of Mechanical Sciences > Chemical Engineering
Date Deposited:	23 Nov 2011 11:07
Last Modified:	25 Feb 2019 05:14
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/42291

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