Activation energy of the reaction between hexacyanoferrate(III) and thiosulfate ions catalyzed by platinum nanoparticles

A temperature-dependent study was carried out for the platinum-nanoparticle-catalyzed electron-transfer reaction between hexacyanoferrate(III) and thiosulfate ions in the temperature range of 20-70 degreesC. The Pt nanoparticles are dominantly truncated octahedral in shape and have an average particle size of 7.0 +/- 0.8 nm. The catalyzed reaction is compared with the uncatalyzed reaction in the same temperature range. The activation energy of the reaction is found to be 38.3 +/- 2.0 kJ/mol for the uncatalyzed reaction and 17.6 +/- 0.9 kJ/mol for the catalyzed reaction in the lower temperature range (20-50 degreesC). In the higher temperature range (50-70 degreesC), the rate remains nearly constant. This behavior is attributed to the cancellation of two effects: the temperature dependence of the catalytic reaction and the decrease in the catalyst surface area due to the increase of nanoparticle aggregation.