Deposition of platinum on oxygen plasma treated carbon nanotubes by atomic layer deposition.

Platinum nanoparticles were deposited on oxygen plasma treated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The treatment time with oxygen plasma generated by microwaves under a power of 600 W varied from 5 to 20 s. The number of ALD cycles was controlled at 5-125. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis indicated that oxygen plasma can graft oxygen-containing functional groups to the CNT surface to act as nucleation sites for growth of Pt nanoparticles. Formation of very uniform and well distributed Pt nanoparticles of a size of 1.60-4.80 nm was achieved. The growth rate of Pt nanoparticles could be controlled by the number of ALD cycles and oxygen plasma treatment time. This offers a dry process to deposit well-dispersed metallic nanoparticles on selected support materials.