Eur. Phys. J. D 43, 209-211 (2007)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2007-00124-7

Differences in catalytic properties between mesoporous and nanoparticulate platinum

¹ Competence Centre for Catalysis, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden
² Applied Surface Chemistry, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden
³ Department of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

Corresponding author: ^a saramat@chalmers.se

Received: 10 October 2006
Revised: 2 November 2006
Published online: 24 May 2007

Abstract

Conventional Pt/Al₂O₃ catalysts prepared by wet-impregnation are composed of Pt nanoparticles exposing convex and facetted surfaces deposited on high-surface area γ-Al₂O₃ supports. A hexagonal phase mesoporous Pt material (denoted H₁-Pt) prepared by chemical reduction in the aqueous domains of a lyotropic liquid crystalline template exposes however mainly a concave surface with expected different catalytic properties. A series of Pt/Al₂O₃ catalysts were prepared using H₁-Pt, Pt-black or wet-impregnated Pt, and the samples were characterized by SEM-EDX and TEM, and finally evaluated for CO oxidation. The H₁-Pt/Al₂O₃ catalyst showed an ignition profile for CO oxidation at lower temperatures and thus appeared less sensitive to CO poisoning than the two other types of samples. This difference may be related to the differences in surface curvature.