Preparation of supported ultrafine platinum nanocatalysts by ethylene glycol assisted photochemical method and application of catalytic 4-NP

Ultrafine Pt nanoparticles (Pt/SWCNTs) supported on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were prepared by a photochemical method assisted by ethylene glycol (EG) as a reducing agent without the addition of stabilizing agents. the application in the reduction of 4-Nitrophenol (4-NP) was also explored. XRD diffraction patterns show that the content of Pt (111) crystal planes is higher, which is beneficial for improving the catalytic activity of platinum nanoparticles. TEM results showed that Pt/SWCNTs-E3 prepared under Ultra Violet (UV) light irradiation had a small-size particle with an average particle size of about 2.2 nm. XPS results showed that the prepared Pt nanoparticles mainly existed in the form of Pt0. The catalytic performance test results showed that the Pt/SWCNTs prepared under the UV condition of 395 nm had the highest activity for catalyzing the reduction of 4-NP, and the apparent rate constant was k = 0.34 min−1, indicating that it had good catalytic activity. After seven cycles, the conversion rate remains about 83%, which has good reusability and stability. The results show that the aggregation of Pt intermediates can be effectively controlled by photo-induced and strong metal − support interaction (SMSI) to obtain ultrafine nanoparticles dominated by Pt0.