(601b) Controlled Growth of Noble Metal Nanoparticles on Graphene Nanoplatelets Via Scalable Atmospheric Pressure Atomic Layer Deposition

Graphene-supported nanoparticles (NPs) are emerging as a novel class of high-performance catalysts [1,2]. For this reason, a great deal of research has been devoted to the fabrication of graphene-supported NPs of several noble and base metals for various applications such as electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, water treatment and splitting, and energy generation and storage. A number of methods have already been developed for the synthesis of metal/graphene. However, most of these methods rely on wet chemistry, in which often the metal dispersion is hard to control, and a high level of impurities arising from residual solvent and reaction byproducts. Therefore, a solvent-free and scalable method capable of depositing NPs on graphene in a controlled fashion, is highly desirable.

We demonstrate the deposition of crystalline palladium and platinum NPs on graphene nanoplatelets via atmospheric pressure atomic layer deposition (ALD). We carry this out in a reactor in which the graphene is dispersed in the gas phase, enabling the production of large amount of material [3]. The nucleation and growth of noble metal nanoparticles on the inert graphene surface was enabled by applying an ozone pretreatment step, without significantly affecting the graphene crystalline structure. Uniform nucleation on both basal planes and edges of the graphene was obtained. By analysing the evolution of the particle size distribution and spatial density, we obtained insights into the nucleation and growth of metal ALD on graphene. Such insights enabled us to tailor the particle size distribution and loading of the noble metal clusters. Finally, our approach provides a 100% solvent-free, controllable and scalable process for producing the bulk quantities of functionalized graphene. We will demonstrate the high catalytic activity of the obtained materials.

[1] Zhang, N.; Zhang, Y.; Xu, Y.-J., Recent Progress on Graphene-Based Photocatalysts: Current Status and Future Perspectives, Nanoscale 4 (2012) 5792â?? 5813

[2] Huang, C.; Li, C.; Shi, G., Graphene Based Catalysts, Energy Environ. Sci. 5 (2012) 8848â?? 8868

[3] Van Bui, H.; Grillo, F.; Helmer, R.; Goulas, A.; van Ommen, J. R., Controlled Growth of Palladium Nanoparticles on Graphene Nanoplatelets via Scalable Atmospheric Pressure Atomic Layer Deposition, J. Phys. Chem. C 120 (2016) 8832â??8840