Honghui Shu

Facile and rapid synthesis of ultrafine PtPd bimetallic nanoparticles and their high performance toward methanol electrooxidation

Uniform and sub-10 nm size bimetallic PtPd nanoparticles (NPs) have been synthesized via a simple and facile method without using any surfactants at an ambient temperature. As a green and clean reductive agent, ascorbic acid (AA) was employed for the coreduction of K2PtCl4 and K2PdCl4 in aqueous solution. The morphology, composition, and structure of PtPd NPs had been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission high resolution transmission electron microscopy (FE-HRTEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS). Comparing with both the monometallic Pt and Pd, the as-prepared alloy nanoparticles show superior electrocatalytic activity and better tolerance against poisoning by intermediates generated during methanol electrooxidation, which makes them a promising electrocatalysts for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). Meanwhile, the green and simple approach could be easily extended to the manufacture of bimetallic or trimetallic alloy nanomaterials.

Pulse Laser Deposition Fabricating Gold Nanoclusters on a Glassy Carbon Surface for Nonenzymatic Glucose Sensing.

A One-step technique for depositing gold nanoclusters (GNCs) onto the surface of a glassy carbon (GC) plate was developed by using pulse laser deposition (PLD) with appropriate process parameters. The method is simple and clean without using any templates, surfactants, or stabilizers. The experimental factors (pulse laser number and the pressure of inert gas (Ar)) that affect the morphology and structure of GNCs, and thus affect the electrocatalytic oxidation performance towards glucose were systematically investigated by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electrochemical methods (cyclic voltammograms (CV) and chronoamperometry methods). The GC electrode modified by GNCs exhibited a rapid response time (about 2 s), a broad linear range (0.1 to 20 mM), and good stability. The sensitivity was estimated to be 31.18 μA cm(-2) mM(-1) (vs. geometric area), which is higher than that of the Au bulk electrode. It has a good resistance to the common interfering species, such as ascorbic acid (AA), uric acid (UA) and 4-acetaminophen (AP). Therefore, this work has demonstrated a simple and effective sensing platform for the nonenzymatic detection of glucose, and can be used as a new material for a novel non-enzymatic glucose sensor.