Organometallic precursor route for the fabrication of PtSn bimetallic nanotubes and Pt3Sn/reduced-graphene oxide nanohybrid thin films at oil-water interface and study of their electrocatalytic activity in methanol oxidation

This report discusses synthesis of PtSn nanotubes and Pt3Sn reduced-graphene oxide (RGO) nanohybrid thin films via a simple reduction of organometallic precursors including [PtCl2(cod)], (cod = cis, cis-1,5-cyclooctadiene), in the presence of [Sn(CH3)(4)] at toluene-water interface. The structure and morphology of the thin films were characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive analysis of X-ray (EDAX) techniques. TEM measurements revealed that the PtSn bimetallic thin films contain nanotubes with diameters in the 8-10 nm range and 200-800 nm in length. However, TEM image of Pt3Sn/RGO bimetallic nanohybrid thin films showed a good distribution of bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) on the RGO support with average diameter of 8 nm. The electrocatalytical activities of tin alloys thin films were evaluated using methanol as model molecule. The PtSn nanotubes and Pt3Sn/RGO nanohybrid thin films show a higher catalytic activity in methanol oxidation reaction than that for the Pt NPs films with the lower Pt loading. (c) 2014 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.