Molecular monolayers enhance the formation of electrocatalytic platinum nanoparticles on vertically aligned carbon nanofiber scaffolds

We demonstrate the use of molecular monolayers to enhance the nucleation of electrocatalytically active platinum nanocrystals onto vertically aligned carbon nanofiber (VACNF) scaffolds. The photochemical functionalization of VACNFs with bifunctional organic alkenes produces monolayer-modified VACNFs exposing large amounts of carboxylic acid groups. Subsequent electroless deposition of platinum leads to high densities of similar to 8 nm diameter Pt nanocrystals uniformly deposited along the length of the nanofibers. Electrochemical measurements show that the molecular monolayers do not impede redox behavior of the electrode, and measurements of the electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol show very high catalytic efficiency. Our results suggest that the use of molecular functionalization layers provides an improved way to integrate nanostructured carbon with metals for a variety of catalytic and electrocatalytic applications.