Chemical vapor deposition of highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles on multi-walled carbon nanotubes for use as fuel-cell electrodes

Fuel-cell electrode catalysts with improved electrochemical properties have been prepared by dispersing Pt nanoparticles onto carbon nanotubes (CNT) using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. (Trimethyl)methylcyclopentadienyl platinum (MeCpPtMe3) has been used as a Pt precursor in the CVD process and the CVD conditions have been optimized to disperse small Pt particles onto the CNT. Pt particles synthesized by CVD have a relatively uniform size of approximately 1 nm, which is substantially smaller than in the case of a commercial Pt/carbon black catalyst (<= 4.5 nm) prepared by wet impregnation. The dispersion of Pt, estimated by CO chemisorption, is also more than 14% greater than the commercial catalyst with these smaller particles. The electrochemically active surface area (ESA), measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV), and the long-time.durability of the surface area of Pt/CNT prepared by CVD are higher than those of the commercial catalyst. Consequently, the single cell performance of the former catalyst is superior to that of the latter one. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.