Platinum Electrodeposition on Unsupported Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes and Its Application as Methane Sensing Material

This paper reports the decoration of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with platinum (Pt) nanoparticles using an electrochemical technique, rotating disk slurry electrode (RoDSE). Pt/SWCNTs were electrochemically characterized by cyclic voltammetry technique (CV) and physically characterized through the use of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy - X-ray florescence (EDS-XRF) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). After characterization it was found that electrodeposited nanoparticles had an average particle size of 4.1 +/- 0.8 nm. Pt/SWCNTs were used as sensing material for methane (CH4) detection and showed improved sensing properties in a range of concentration from 50 ppm to 200 ppm parts per million (ppm) at room temperature, when compared to other Pt/CNTs-based sensors. The use of this technique for the preparation of Pt/SWCNTs opens a new possibility in the bulk preparation of samples using an electrochemical method and thus their potential use in a wide variety of applications in chemical sensing, fuel cell and others. (C) 2012 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/2.054302jes] All rights reserved.