Aqueous solution synthesis of Pt-M (M = Fe, Co, Ni) bimetallic nanoparticles and their catalysis for the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane.

Platinum-based bimetallic nanocatalysts have attracted much attention due to their high-efficiency catalytic performance in energy-related applications such as fuel cell and hydrogen storage, for example, the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane (AB). In this work, a simple and green method has been demonstrated to successfully prepare Pt-M (M = Fe, Co, Ni) NPs with tunable composition (nominal Pt/M atomic ratios of 4:1, 1:1, and 1:4) in aqueous solution under mild conditions. All Pt-M NPs with a small size of 3-5 nm show a Pt fcc structure, suggesting the bimetallic formation (alloy and/or partial core-shell), examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) analysis. The catalytic activities of Pt-M NPs in the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of AB reveal that Pt-Ni NPs with a ratio of 4:1 show the best catalytic activity and even better than that of pure Pt NPs when normalized to Pt molar amount. The Ni oxidation state in Pt-Ni NPs has been suggested to be responsible for the corresponding catalytic activity for hydrolytic dehydrogenation of AB by XAFS study. This strategy for the synthesis of Pt-M NPs is simple and environmentally benign in aqueous solution with the potential for scale-up preparation and the in situ catalytic reaction.