Development of a Simple Electroless Method for Depositing Metallic Pt-Pd Nanoparticles over Wire Gauge Support for Removal of Hydrogen in a Nuclear Reactor

Electroless noble metal deposition on the conducting substrate is widely used to obtain the desired film or coating on the substrate of interest. Wire-gauge-based Pt/Pd/Pt-Pd (individually, sequentially, and simultaneously deposited) catalysts have been developed using formaldehyde and sodium formate as reducing agents. Various surface pretreatment methods like SnCl2 + PdCl2 seeding, oxalic acid etching, and HCl activation (etching) have been employed to obtain the desired noble metal coating. Minimum time duration was observed for simultaneously deposited catalysts using formaldehyde as a reducing agent. Prepared catalysts were characterized for noble metal deposition, coating kinetics, surface morphology, and binding energy. The catalyst was found to be active for H2 and O2 recombination reactions for hydrogen mitigation applications in nuclear reactors.

Automated summary

Electroless noble metal deposition on conducting substrates is widely used to obtain desired films or coatings. In this study, wire-gauge-based Pt/Pd/Pt-Pd catalysts were developed using formaldehyde and sodium formate as reducing agents. Various surface pretreatment methods were employed, and it was found that the simultaneously deposited catalysts using formaldehyde had the shortest time duration. The prepared catalysts were characterized for noble metal deposition, coating kinetics, surface morphology, and binding energy, and it was found to be active for hydrogen mitigation applications in nuclear reactors.