Method for preparing heteroatom-doped CNHs and heteroatom-doped carbon nanohorns supporting platinum, and catalyst

Abstract

A method includes the following steps: a first step: the material containing heteroatom and graphite powder are mixed for a preset time by grinding, and the molar ratio of heteroatom to carbon atom is 1%-10%, then the heteroatom precursors are obtained; a second contact step: the heteroatom precursor is filled into a graphite rod with holes and compacted, then the graphite rod is dried for a preset time to obtain a plasma anode and using a DC arc plasma device to prepare the graphite anode into heteroatom-doped CNHs; a third contact step: the heteroatom-doped CNHs are dispersed in a reducing solution, a platinum salt is added to stir evenly, the reduction reaction is carried out by heating and stirring, and after centrifugation, washing and drying, a catalyst with platinum loading is obtained.

Claims

1. A method for preparing platinum-supported catalyst, comprising: a. mixing materials containing heteroatoms and graphite powder by grinding with a molar ratio of heteroatoms to carbon atoms is 1% to 10% for a first predetermined time to obtain a heteroatom precursor; b. filling the heteroatom precursor into a first graphite rod with holes and compacting, and drying the graphite rod for a second predetermined time to obtain a graphite rod with heteroatom precursor; c. putting the graphite rod with heteroatom precursor as an anode into a DC arc plasma device, arranging a second graphite rod sharpened at one end as a cathode opposite to the anode, filling the plasma device with preset gas, and then starting the plasma device to synthesis heteroatom-doped CNHs; d. dispersing the heteroatom-doped CNHs in a reducing solution, then adding platinum salt and reducing agent in the reducing solution and stirring evenly; then, heating and stirring the solution to carry out a reduction reaction to obtain a catalyst; after the reduction reaction, washing and drying the catalyst to obtain a platinum-supported catalyst with heteroatom-doped CNHs as a carrier and platinum nanoparticles as an active component, wherein a reaction temperature and a reaction time for the reduction reaction are 140-160° C. and 2-3 h respectively, and a stirring speed for stirring the solution is 150-200 r/min respectively.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein platinum nanoparticles are loaded on the heteroatom-doped CNHs through a solvothermal method.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the reducing solution comprises at least one of ethylene glycol, hydrazine hydrate, and sodium borohydride.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the platinum salt comprises at least one of chloroplatinic acid or chloroplatinous acid.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein a volume of the platinum salt solution is 1-2 ml.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein a stirring speed and stirring time after adding platinum salt in the reducing solution are 200-400 r/min and 5-15 min respectively.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the catalyst was centrifuged and washed with ethanol and deionized water more than 5 times.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a drying temperature and a drying time for drying the catalyst are 60-80° C. and 8-12 h respectively.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing a method for heteroatom-doped carbon nanohorns supporting platinum.

(2) FIG. 2 is a transmission electron microscope (TEM) image of the catalyst carrier prepared in Example 1.

(3) FIG. 3 is a is Raman spectrometry of catalyst carrier prepared in Example 1.

(4) FIG. 4 is a Brunner-Emmet-Teller (BET) measurements of catalyst carrier prepared in Example 1 and the inset is pore size distribution.

(5) FIG. 5(a) and FIG. 5(b) are TEM image and particle diameter distribution of platinum of the catalyst prepared in Example 1.

(6) The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of the catalyst prepared in Example 1: FIG. 6(a) is survey spectra for survey spectrum, FIG. 6(b) is XPS survey spectra for the S 2p regions, and FIG. 6(c) is XPS survey spectra for the Pt 4f regions.

(7) FIG. 7(a) is ORR polarization curves of the catalysts prepared in Example 1 and commercial Pt/C at a rotating speed of 1600 rpm in 0.1 M HClO.sub.4 solution. FIG. 7(b) is CV curves of the catalysts prepared in Example 1 in 02-saturated 0.1 M HClO.sub.4 electrolyte before and after 10000 cycles.

(8) FIG. 8(a) and FIG. 8(b) are TEM image and particle diameter distribution of platinum of the catalyst prepared in Example 2.

(9) FIG. 9(a) and FIG. 9(b) are TEM image and particle diameter distribution of platinum of the catalyst prepared in Example 3.

(10) FIG. 10 is XPS survey spectra for the Cl 2p regions of the catalyst prepared in Example 3.

(11) FIG. 11 (a) and FIG. 11(b) are TEM image and particle diameter distribution of platinum of the catalyst prepared in Example 4.

(12) FIG. 12 is XPS survey spectra for the F is regions of the catalyst prepared in Example 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Definition

(13) Carbon nanohorns (CNHs): the definition is the same as the patent of U.S. Ser. No. 11/370,663B1. Since the preparation of CNHs by arc plasma requires the use of nitrogen, the as-prepared original CNHs contain nitrogen atoms.

(14) Heteroatom-doped: nonmetallic atoms (except for nitrogen atoms) are doped in the CNHs.

(15) First Aspect

(16) A first aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method for preparing heteroatom-doped CNHs supporting platinum, the method including:

(17) a. the materials containing heteroatoms and graphite powder are mixed by grinding with a molar ratio of heteroatoms to carbon atoms is 1% to 10% for a predetermined time to obtain a heteroatom precursor.

(18) b. the heteroatom precursor is filled into a graphite rod with holes and compacted, and the graphite rod is dried for a predetermined time to obtain the materials of plasma anode.

(19) c. Putting graphite rod with heteroatom precursor as an anode into a DC arc plasma device, a graphite rod sharpened at one end as a cathode and is arranged opposite to the anode, filling the plasma device with preset gas, and then starting the plasma device to synthesis heteroatom-doped CNHs.

(20) d. The heteroatom-doped CNHs are dispersed in a reducing solution, then the platinum salt and reducing agent are added in the solution and stirred evenly. Then the solution is heated and stirred to carry out a reduction reaction to obtain catalysts. After reduction reaction, the catalysts are washed and dried, then the platinum-supported catalyst with heteroatom-doped CNHs as a carrier and platinum nanoparticles as an active component is obtained.

(21) In the first step of the method of the present disclosure, the materials containing heteroatoms is at least one of sulfur or sulfur-containing organic matter, phosphorus or phosphorus-containing organic matter, nitrogen-containing organic matter, chlorine-containing organic matter, fluorine-containing organic matter, bromine-containing organic matter, and iodine-containing organic matter. The predetermined time for mixing is 20-40 min.

(22) In the second step of the method of the present disclosure, the diameter of the graphite rod is 10 mm-60 mm and the diameter of the hole on the graphite rod is 5-10 mm, the compaction pressure of the heteroatom precursor in the graphite rod is 0.02 MPa to 0.05 MPa. The predetermined temperature and predetermined time for drying are 60-80° C. and 4-6 h respectively.

(23) In the third step of the method of the present disclosure, the diameter of the cathode graphite rod is the same as the graphite rod in second step, and the distance between cathode and anode is 2-4 mm. The pressure of preset gas is 50-90 kPa. The working current of DC arc plasma device is preferably higher than 150 A. In that case, production rate of CNHs can be improved.

(24) In the present disclosure, a duration of the discharge time of the DC arc plasma device is not specifically limited as long as purpose of the present disclosure may be achieved. Generally, as long as the anode graphite rod is not exhausted, the DC arc plasma device can be discharged continuously.

(25) Preset gas used in the present disclosure may be nitrogen argon gas mixture, nitrogen hydrogen mixture, and nitrogen helium mixture. In a specific embodiment, a ratio of other gas to nitrogen is 0-20%, such as 0:1, such as 1:6, such as 1:5, such as 1:4. In a preferred embodiment, the ratio of other gas to nitrogen is 0:1. The nitrogen preset gas can ionize nitrogen atoms and nitrogen ion in DC arc plasma device which promote the formation of CNHs. During the growth of CNHs, heteroatoms are in situ doped into CNHs to form heteroatom-doped CNHs.

(26) The heteroatom-doped CNHs prepared by the method of the present disclosure has a spherical diameter of 50-80 nm, such as 50-60 nm, such as 60-70 nm, preferably 50-60 nm. The step c includes quenching, the spherical diameter of the heteroatom-doped CNHs prepared can be controlled by a quenching speed in the DC arc plasma device, and a flow rate of cooling water used in the quenching. The flow rate of cooling water is 1-5 m/s. Preferably 3-5 m/s, such as 3 m/s, such as 3.5 m/s, such as 4.5 m/s, such as 5 m/s.

(27) In the fourth step of the method of the present disclosure, the reducing solution includes at least one of ethylene glycol, hydrazine hydrate, and sodium borohydride. The stirring speed and stirring time of CNHs dispersed in the reducing solution are 200-400 r/min and 5-15 min respectively. The platinum salt includes at least one of chloroplatinic acid or chloroplatinous acid. The volume of the added platinum salt solution is 1-2 ml. The stirring speed and stirring time after adding platinum salt in reducing solution are 200-400 r/min and 5-15 min respectively. The reaction temperature, reaction time, stirring speed are 140-160° C., 2-3 h, and 150-200 r/min respectively.

(28) The platinum-supported catalyst has a large number of active sites, platinum nanoparticles with a particle size of 1 nm to 8 nm are supported on a surface of heteroatom-doped CNHs, and the platinum nanoparticles have a uniform particle size and no agglomeration.

(29) The heteroatom-doped CNHs supporting platinum especially exhibits great practicability in applications. For example, the heteroatom-doped CNHs of the present disclosure can be applied to fuel cells, dehydrogenation reactions, aromatic ring hydrogenation reactions, hydrogen peroxide decomposition or gas purification.

(30) Second Aspect

(31) A second aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method for preparing heteroatom-doped CNHs. The method includes steps a, b and c.

(32) The heteroatom-doped CNHs obtained by the method of the present disclosure has an I.sub.D/I.sub.G vale of 1.05-1.2.

(33) In a specific embodiment, the heteroatom-doped CNHs of the present disclosure has a spherical diameter, i.e., a spherical diameter of the N—SWCNHs, preferably smaller than 80 nm. In a specific embodiment, the heteroatom-doped CNHs of the present disclosure has an I.sub.D/I.sub.G vale of 1.18. In a specific embodiment, the atomic contents of sulfur, nitrogen, platinum of the present disclosure are 1.1%, 1% and 2.3% respectively. In a specific embodiment, the platinum nanoparticles are supported on the heteroatom-doped CNHs of the present disclosure has an average spherical diameter of 4.1 nm.

(34) Third Aspect

(35) A third aspect of the present disclosure relates to the application of heteroatom-doped CNHs supporting platinum of the present disclosure or the heteroatom-doped CNHs supporting platinum obtained by the method of the present disclosure. The heteroatom-doped CNHs supporting platinum product prepared by the present disclosure can be used in various known platinum carbon catalyst applications, but is broader than it. The heteroatom-doped CNHs supporting platinum has a very wide material application range. Currently, the heteroatom-doped CNHs supporting platinum of the present disclosure may be applied in fuel cells, dehydrogenation reactions, aromatic ring hydrogenation reactions, hydrogen peroxide decomposition or gas purification.

(36) Example 1 of the present disclosure illustrates the application of the heteroatom-doped CNHs supporting platinum of the present disclosure in ORR, wherein the heteroatom-doped CNHs supporting platinum of the present disclosure have excellent oxygen catalytic activity and stability. The doping of heteroatom introduces more active sites, which together with platinum nanoparticles enhances oxygen catalytic performance. In addition, the CNHs with unique limited domain structure prevents agglomeration of platinum nanoparticles effectively, resulting in excellent catalytic stability. This effect is obviously superior to that of commercial platinum carbon catalysts in prior art.

(37) Test Methods

(38) The heteroatom-doped CNHs (the characterization thereof): the heteroatom-doped CNHs may be characterized by infrared spectrum (IR), Raman spectrum, TEM, scanning electron microscope (SEM), BET measurements, XPS and other methods. In the present application, the heteroatom-doped CNHs is characterized mainly by Raman spectrum, TEM and BET measurements, wherein there are D peak and G peak at 1350 cm.sup.−1, 1580 cm.sup.−1 in Raman spectrum; The specific surface area, total pore volume and average pore size.

(39) The heteroatom-doped CNHs supporting platinum (the characterization thereof): the heteroatom-doped CNHs supporting platinum may be characterized by IR, TEM, BET measurements, XPS and other methods. In the present application, the heteroatom-doped CNHs is characterized mainly by TEM and XPS.

(40) Spherical diameter: The spherical diameter of the platinum nanoparticles supported on heteroatom-doped CNHs may be measured by TEM and other methods. The results measured by these methods are similar. In the present disclosure, the spherical diameter is measured mainly by TEM.

(41) Specific surface area: In the present disclosure, the specific surface area, total pore volume and average pore size may be measured by BET.

(42) The content of heteroatoms and platinum atoms: The content of heteroatoms and platinum atoms in catalyst may be measured by elemental analysis, XPS and other methods. In the present disclosure, the content of heteroatoms and platinum atoms are measured mainly by XPS.

Example 1

(43) The heteroatom precursor was obtained by mixing sulfur element and graphite powder for 20 min, sulfur is selected for substances containing sulfur heteroatoms and the molar ratio of sulfur to carbon atoms is 5%.

(44) The heteroatom precursor is filled into a graphite rod drilled with an outer diameter of 10 mm and an inner diameter of 4 mm. Then the filling is compacted with a pressure of 0.03 MPa.

(45) Put the graphite rod with heteroatom precursor into an arc plasma device which works as anode, a graphite rod sharpened at one end as a cathode, and perform plasma treatment in a 70 kPa nitrogen atmosphere. Then the working current is 200 A, and the flow rate of cooling water is 5 m/s. After the discharge, let stand for one hour and collect the nitrogen-sulfur atom doped CNHs (NS—CNHs).

(46) The NS—CNHs are dispersed in 40 ml of ethylene glycol, stir for 15 min, then add 1 ml of 0.05 mol.Math.L.sup.−1 chloroplatinic acid ethylene glycol solution and add 800 mg of sodium hydroxide, the solution continued to stir for 15 min. Next, the mixed solution is stirred and heated in an oil bath for 3 h, the stirring rate and heating temperature are 200 r/min and 150° C. respectively. After cooling to room temperature, the mixed solution is washed 5 times with distilled water and ethanol, and is dried in a vacuum drying oven at 60° C. for 12 h to obtain NS—CNHs which are supported platinum catalyst (Pt\NS—CNHs).

(47) In Example 1, the TEM image of the NS—CNHs shows that the NS—CNHs are dahlia shaped, and its surface has a large number of horn-like structures (FIG. 2). These unique structures provide limited domain structure, so the platinum nanoparticles can be effectively prevented to agglomerate. Raman spectrum of NS—CNHs prepared (FIG. 3) shows that the I.sub.D/I.sub.G vale is 1.18. It is attributed to the doping of sulfur atoms that further increases the structural defects of CNHs and thus providing more active sites. The FIG. 4 shows that the BET of the NS—CNHs prepared in Example 1, the average pore diameter of NS—CNHs is 13.9 nm, in addition, the increase of defect content increases specific surface area of NS—CNHs. Therefore, the specific surface area of NS—CNHs is 274.4 m.sup.2/g. In FIG. 5(a), the TEM image of the Pt\NS—CNHs shows that the Pt nanoparticles are uniformly loaded on NS—CNHs. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5(b), the particle size distribution diagram shows that the size distribution of Pt nanoparticles is relatively uniform, mostly between 3-6 nm, and the average spherical diameter of particles is 4.1 nm. To deeply investigate the surface properties of the as-prepared Pt\NS—CNHs, the samples are characterized by XPS. As shown in FIG. 6(a), the peaks at 73 eV, 165 eV, 284 eV, 399 eV, and 533 eV correspond to the peaks of Pt 4f, S 2p, C 1 s, N 1 s, and O 1 s respectively. As shown in S 2p XPS spectrum (FIG. 6(b)), it can be obviously observed the binding energy at 164.7 eV and 165.8 that belonged to C—S bonds. This result indicates that the S element is doped into the CNHs successfully. In FIG. 6(c), the Pt 4f XPS spectrum show that the main forms of Pt in Pt\NS—CNHs are metal Pt, PtO and PtO.sub.2, accounting for 42.2%, 43.7% and 15.1% respectively. The Pt\NS—CNHs catalyst prepared in Example 1 is applied to the ORR reaction in 0.1M HClO.sub.4 electrolyte, linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) curves (FIG. 7(a)) collected using a rotating disk electrode (RDE) technique at 1600 rpm is further employed to evaluated the intrinsic ORR electrocatalytic properties of this catalysts. Pt\NS—CNHs exhibits the outstanding diffusion-limiting current density (J.sub.L=5.37 mA cm.sup.−2) and the excellent positive onset potential (E.sub.onset=0.995 V) and half-wave potential (E.sub.1/2=0.846 V vs RHE). These values are more favorable than those of commercial Pt/C (J.sub.L=4.92 mA cm.sup.−2, E.sub.onset=0.986 V, E.sub.1/2=0.839 V). As shown in FIG. 7(b), no obvious negative shift is observed for ORR peak potential after 10000 continuous cycles, indicating excellent stability in acidic electrolytes.

Example 2

(48) The heteroatom precursor is obtained by mixing sulfur element and graphite powder for 30 min. The thiourea is selected for substances containing sulfur heteroatoms and the molar ratio of sulfur to carbon atoms is 8%.

(49) The heteroatom precursor is filled into a graphite rod drilled with an outer diameter of 10 mm and an inner diameter of 4 mm. Then the filling is compacted with a pressure of 0.04 MPa.

(50) Put the graphite rod with heteroatom precursor into an arc plasma device which works as anode, a graphite rod sharpened at one end as a cathode, and perform plasma treatment in a 70 kPa (Ar: N.sub.2=1:4) atmosphere. Then the working current is 175 A, and the flow rate of cooling water is 4.5 m/s. After the discharge, let stand for one hour and collect the nitrogen-sulfur atom doped CNHs (NS—CNHs).

(51) The NS—CNHs are dispersed in 40 ml of ethylene glycol, stir for 15 min, then add 1.5 ml of 0.05 mol.Math.L.sup.−1 chloroplatinic acid ethylene glycol solution and add 800 mg of sodium hydroxide, the solution continued to stir for 15 min. Next, the mixed solution is stirred and heated in an oil bath for 3 h, the stirring rate and heating temperature are 200 r/min and 160° C. respectively. After cooling to room temperature, the mixed solution is washed 5 times with distilled water and ethanol, and is dried in a vacuum drying oven at 60° C. for 10 h to obtain NS—CNHs which are supported platinum catalyst (Pt\NS—CNHs).

(52) In FIG. 8(a), the TEM image of the Pt\NS—CNHs shows that the Pt nanoparticles are uniformly loaded on NS—CNHs. In addition, as shown in FIG. 8(b), the particle size distribution diagram shows that the size distribution of Pt nanoparticles is relatively uniform, mostly between 2-8 nm, and the average spherical diameter of particles is 4.14 nm.

Example 3

(53) The heteroatom precursor was obtained by mixing chlorine element and graphite powder for 20 min. The cetyltrimethylammonium chloride is selected for substances containing chlorine heteroatoms and the molar ratio of chlorine to carbon atoms is 5%.

(54) The heteroatom precursor is filled into a graphite rod drilled with an outer diameter of 10 mm and an inner diameter of 4 mm. Then the filling is compacted with a pressure of 0.05 MPa.

(55) Put the graphite rod with heteroatom precursor into an arc plasma device which works as anode, a graphite rod sharpened at one end as a cathode, and perform plasma treatment in an 80 kPa (H.sub.2: N.sub.2=1:5) atmosphere. Then the working current is 150 A, and the flow rate of cooling water is 5 m/s. After the discharge, let stand for one hour and collect the nitrogen-chlorine atom doped CNHs (NCl—CNHs).

(56) The NCl—CNHs are dispersed in 40 ml of ethylene glycol, stir for 15 min, then add 1.5 ml of 0.05 mol.Math.L.sup.−1 chloroplatinic acid ethylene glycol solution and add 800 mg of sodium hydroxide, the solution continued to stir for 15 min. Next, the mixed solution is stirred and heated in an oil bath for 3 h, the stirring rate and heating temperature are 180 r/min and 140° C. respectively. After cooling to room temperature, the mixed solution is washed 5 times with distilled water and ethanol, and is dried in a vacuum drying oven at 80° C. for 8 h to obtain NCl—CNHs which are supported platinum catalyst (Pt\NCl—CNHs).

(57) In FIG. 9(a), the TEM image of the Pt\NCl—CNHs shows that the Pt nanoparticles are uniformly loaded on NCl—CNHs. In addition, as shown in FIG. 9(b), the particle size distribution diagram shows that the size distribution of Pt nanoparticles is relatively uniform, mostly between 1-7 nm, and the average spherical diameter of particles is 3.88 nm. The Cl 2p XPS spectrum of Pt\NCl—CNHs is shown in FIG. 10, it can be obviously observed the binding energy at 202.6 eV and 200.8 that belonged to C—Cl bonds. This result indicates that the Cl element is doped into the CNHs successfully.

Example 4

(58) The heteroatom precursor was obtained by mixing fluorine element and graphite powder for 20 min. The polyvinylidene fluoride is selected for substances containing fluorine heteroatoms and the molar ratio of fluorine to carbon atoms is 5%.

(59) The heteroatom precursor is filled into a graphite rod drilled with an outer diameter of 10 mm and an inner diameter of 4 mm. Then the filling is compacted with a pressure of 0.03 MPa.

(60) Put the graphite rod with heteroatom precursor into an arc plasma device which works as anode, a graphite rod sharpened at one end as a cathode, and perform plasma treatment in a 70 kPa (Ar: N.sub.2=1:5) atmosphere. Then the working current is 200 A, and the flow rate of cooling water is 5 m/s. After the discharge, let stand for one hour and collect the nitrogen-fluoride atom doped CNHs (NF—CNHs).

(61) The NF—CNHs are dispersed in 40 ml of ethylene glycol, stir for 15 min, then add 1 ml of 0.05 mol chloroplatinic acid ethylene glycol solution and add 800 mg of sodium hydroxide, the solution continued to stir for 15 min. Next, the mixed solution is stirred and heated in an oil bath for 3 h, the stirring rate and heating temperature are 150 r/min and 160° C. respectively. After cooling to room temperature, the mixed solution is washed 5 times with distilled water and ethanol, and is dried in a vacuum drying oven at 60° C. for 12 h to obtain NF—CNHs which are supported platinum catalyst (Pt\NF—CNHs).

(62) In FIG. 11(a), the TEM image of the Pt\NF—CNHs shows that the Pt nanoparticles are uniformly loaded on NF—CNHs. In addition, as shown in FIG. 11(b), the particle size distribution diagram shows that the size distribution of Pt nanoparticles is relatively uniform, mostly between 1-6 nm, and the average spherical diameter of particles is 3.88 nm. The F is XPS spectrum of Pt\NF—CNHs is shown in FIG. 12, it can be obviously observed the binding energy at 699 eV and 686.3 that belonged to C—F bonds. This result indicates that the F element is doped into the CNHs successfully.

Example 5

(63) The experiment of Example 1 is repeated, and the ratio of sulfur is adjusted to find the relationship between the amount of sulfur added and the content of sulfur atoms in the NS—CNHs. The test results obtained is shown in the following table (70 kPa N.sub.2).

(64) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Molar ratio of sulfur to carbon atoms 3% 5% 7% 10% Sulfur atom content 1.43% 3.15% 4.29 5.48