Encapsulation of Pt Nanoparticles Inside Carbon Nanotubes

The encapsulation of Pt nanoparticles into the cavities of MWNTs was prepared by pyrolysis of a mixture of Pt acetylacetonate and MWNTs under vacuum at 500 degrees C and subsequent thermal heating to form high surface area Pt nanostructure. Pat nanoparticles with an average size of 3.0 nm were found to be highly dispersed on the outside surface of the MWNTs and encapsulated in them. For comparison, Pd and Ru nanoparticles were also investigated using the same synthetic process to further explore the filling mechanism of metal nanoparticles inside carbon nanotubes. The presence of metal nanoparticles that were attached to the MWNTs was characterized by TEM, HRTEM, and FT-IR. The filling mechanism was also proposed.