Synthesis and characterization of dendrimer templated supported bimetallic Pt-Au nanoparticles

Bimetallic dendrimer-stabilized nanoparticles (DSNs) were used to prepare supported Pt-Au catalysts within the bulk miscibility gap for this binary system. Hydroxy-terminated generation 5 PAMAM dendrimers were used to prepare Cu⁰ nanoparticles (NPs). The Cu⁰ NPs were subsequently used to reduce K₂PtCl₄ and HAuCl₄, preparing stabilized bimetallic Pt-Au NPs with a 1:1 stoichiometry. The stabilized NPs were adsorbed onto a high surface area silica support and thermally activated to remove the dendrimers. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and infrared spectroscopy of adsorbed CO showed that this preparation route resulted in NPs in which the two metals are intimately mixed and that the majority of the bimetallic NPs were smaller than 3 nm. Further, the bimetallic NPs were highly active for CO oxidation catalysis near room temperature and showed evidence of CO induced restructuring at ambient temperatures.