Synthesis of Pt–Fe core–shell nanocatalysts supported on TiO2 via sequential dry impregnation and electroless deposition
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Abstract
This study investigates the preparation of bimetallic core–shell catalysts, in which Fe serves as the core and Pt forms the shell on a titanium dioxide (TiO2) support. Fe was deposited onto TiO2 via the dry impregnation method with a fixed loading of 1.50wt%. Pt was subsequently deposited onto the iron surface using electroless deposition (ED). In the ED process, chloroplatinic acid (H2PtCl6) was employed as the Pt precursor, dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (DMAB) was used as the reducing agent at a molar ratio of 1:20, and ethylenediamine was added as a stabilizer at a molar ratio of 1:4. The deposition was carried out at pH 11.0-11.5 and 50°C. The experiments were designed to achieve Pt coverages of 0.20, 0.40, 0.60, 0.80, 1.00, and 3.00monolayers. Results showed that both the concentration of the Pt precursor and the pH of the solution decreased rapidly within the first 10minutes and stabilized after 30minutes. The corresponding Pt loadings obtained were 0.36, 0.57, 0.75, 0.92, 1.40, and 3.50wt%, respectively. N2 adsorption-desorption analysis indicated that Pt deposition did not significantly affect the specific surface area of the Fe/TiO2 catalysts. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the presence of the anatase phase of TiO2, with Pt peaks detected, while Fe peaks were absent. To further confirm elemental distribution, TEM–EDS mapping was employed, verifying the presence of both Pt and Fe, and confirming the core–shell arrangement of Pt and Fe supported on TiO2.
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