Electrodeposited platinum catalysts over hierarchical carbon monolithic support

Abstract

Mesoporous deposits of platinum catalysts were electrodeposited over monolith carbon with hierarchical porous structure. The liquid crystal used as a template allowed the electrodeposition of the catalyst on the outer region of the carbon with low penetration in the porous structure. The platinum hexagonal mesostructured deposits exhibits an excellent stability enhanced by the roughness of the carbon support. The mass activity for the electrooxidation of methanol of the mesoporous Pt catalyst supported on the hierarchical carbon is similar to that observed on gold and to that reported for commercial Pt nanoparticulated catalysts, even when this catalyst has a smaller Pt load than the commercial one. Also, the poisoning rate of the mesoporous catalyst is lower than that observed for the commercial catalyst. The integrated system of structured materials could be suitable for the fabrication of modified electrodes in small scale applications. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.