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Updated: May 15, 2026
Synthesis and Testing of Supported Pt-Cu Solid Solution Nanoparticle Catalysts for Propane Dehydrogenation
Published on: July 18, 2017
Underpotential deposition-induced synthesis of composition-tunable Pt-Cu nanocrystals and their catalytic properties
Yaqi Jiang1, Yanyan Jia, Jiawei Zhang
1State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces and the Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, P.R. China. yqjiang@xmu.edu.cn
Abstract:
Pt-Cu alloy octahedral nanocrystals (NCs) have been synthesized successfully by using N,N-dimethylformamide as both the solvent and the reducing agent in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride. Cu underpotential deposition (UPD) is found to play a key role in the formation of the Pt-Cu alloy NCs. The composition in the Pt-Cu alloy can be tuned by adjusting the ratio of metal precursors in solution. However, the Cu content in the Pt-Cu alloy NCs cannot exceed 50%. Due to the fact that Cu precursor cannot be reduced to metallic copper and the Cu content cannot exceed 50%, we achieved the formation of the Pt-Cu alloy by using Cu UPD on the Pt surface. In addition, the catalytic activities of Pt-Cu alloy NCs with different composition were investigated in electrocatalytic oxidation of formic acid. The results reveal that the catalytic performance is strongly dependent on Pt-Cu alloy composition. The sample of Pt(50)Cu(50) exhibits excellent activity in electrocatalytic oxidation of formic acid.
