• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.341-345
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• 2014

Catalyst nanoparticles are prepared by arc plasma deposition (APD). First, overview of the APD technique is reviewed and second, some applications of the technique for nanocatalyst preparation are reviewed. Nanoparticles prepared by APD are typically 1~5 nm in size and their catalytic activity is generally better than that of conventional wet-chemically prepared nanocatalysts.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.261-261
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• 2013

The smart design of nanocatalysts can improve the catalytic activity of transition metals on reducible oxide supports, such as titania, via strong metal-support interactions. In this work, we investigatedtwo-dimensional Pt nanoparticle/titania catalytic systems under the CO oxidation reaction. Arc plasma deposition (APD) and metal impregnation techniques were employed to achieve Pt nanoparticle deposition on titania supports, which were prepared by multitarget sputtering and sol-gel techniques. APD Pt nanoparticles with an average size of 2.7 nm were deposited on sputtered and sol-gel-prepared titania films to assess the role of the titania support on the catalytic activity of Pt under CO oxidation. In order to study the nature of the dispersed metallic phase and its effect on the activity of the catalytic CO oxidation reaction, Pt nanoparticles were deposited in varying surface coverages on sputtered titania films using arc plasma deposition. Our results show an enhanced activity of Pt nanoparticles when the nanoparticle/titania interfaces are exposed. APD Pt shows superior catalytic activity under CO oxidation, as compared to impregnated Pt nanoparticles, due to the catalytically active nature of the mild surface oxidation and the active Pt metal, suggesting that APD can be used for large-scale synthesis of active metal nanocatalysts.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.245-245
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• 2012

Syntheses of oxide supported metal catalysts by wet-chemical routes have been well known for their use in heterogeneous catalysis. However, uniform deposition of metal nanoparticles with controlled size and shape on the support with high reproducibility is still a challenge for catalyst preparation. Among various synthesis methods, arc plasma deposition (APD) of metal nanoparticles or thin films on oxide supports has received great interest recently, due to its high reproducibility and large-scale production, and used for their application in catalysis. In this work, Au and Pt nanoparticles with size of 1-2 nm have been deposited on titania powder by APD. The size of metal nanoparticles was controlled by number of shots of metal deposition and APD conditions. These catalytic materials were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma (ICP-AES), CO-chemisorption and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Catalytic activity of the materials was measured by CO oxidation using oxygen, as a model reaction, in a micro-flow reactor at atmospheric pressure. We found that Au/$TiO_2$ is reactive, showing 100% conversion at $110^{\circ}C$, while Pt/$TiO_2$ shows 100% conversion at $200^{\circ}C$. High activity of metal nanoparticles suggests that APD can be used for large scale synthesis of active nanocatalysts. We will discuss the effect of the structure and metal-oxide interactions of the catalysts on catalytic activity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.288-288
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• 2013

We report the catalytic activity of Au/$TiO_2$ and Pt/$TiO_2$ nanocatalysts under CO oxidation fabricated by arc plasma deposition (APD), which is a facile dry process with no organic materials involved. Using APD, the catalyst nanoparticles were well dispersed on $TiO_2$ powder with an average particle size (2~4 nm) well below that of nanoparticles prepared by the sol-gel method (10 nm). We found that the average particle size of the dispersed gold nanoparticles can be controlled by changing the plasma discharge voltage of APD. Accordingly, the amount of loaded gold on the $TiO_2$ powder increased with increasing discharge voltage, but the specific surface area of the Au/$TiO_2$ samples decreased. As for catalytic reactivity, Au/$TiO_2$ showed a higher catalytic activity than Pt/$TiO_2$ in CO oxidation. The catalytic activity of the Au/$TiO_2$ samples showed size dependence where higher catalytic activity occurred on smaller gold nanoparticles. The study suggests that APD is a simple way to fabricate catalytically active nanocatalysts.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.140.2-140.2
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• 2013

Strong metal-support interaction effect is an important issue in determining the catalytic activity for heterogeneous catalysis. In this work, we report the catalytic activity of $Au/TiO_2$, $Au/Al_2O_3$, and $Au/Al_2O_3-CeO_2$ nanocatalysts under CO oxidation fabricated by arc plasma deposition (APD), which is a facile dry process with no organic materials involved. These catalytic materials were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and $N_2$-physisorption. Catalytic activity of the materials has measured by CO oxidation using oxygen, as a model reaction, in a micro-flow reactor at atmospheric pressure. Using APD, the catalyst nanoparticles were well dispersed on metal oxide powder with an average particle size (3~10 nm). As for catalytic reactivity, the result shows $Au/Al_2O_3-CeO_2$ nanocatalyst has the highest catalytic activity among three samples in CO oxidation, and $Au/TiO_2$, and $Au/Al_2O_3$ in sequence. We discuss the effects of structure and metal-oxide interactions of the catalysts on catalytic activity.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.6-12
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• 2012

Electricity is generated by the combined reactions of hydrogen oxidation and oxygen reduction which occur on the Pt/C catalyst surface. There have been lots of researches to make high performance catalysts which can reduce Pt utilization. However, most of catalysts are synthesized by wet-processes and a significant amount of chemicals are emitted during Pt/C synthesis. In this study, Pt/C catalyst was produced by arc plasma deposition process in which Pt nano-particles are directly deposited on carbon black surfaces. During the process, islands of Pt nano-particles were produced and they were very fine and well-distributed on carbon black surface. Compared with a commercialized Pt/C catalyst (Johnson & Matthey), finer particle size, narrower size distribution, and uniform distribution of APD Pt/C resulted in higher electrochemical active surface area even at the less Pt content.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.246-246
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• 2012

Smart catalyst design though novel catalyst preparation methods can improve catalytic activity of transition metals on reducible oxide supports such as titania by enhancement of metal oxide interface effects. In this work, we investigated Pt nanoparticles/titania catalysts under CO oxidation reaction by using novel preparation methods in order to enhance its catalytic activity by optimizing metal oxide interface. Arc plasma deposition (APD) and metal impregnation techniques are employed to achieve Pt metal deposition on titania supports which are prepared by multi-target sputtering and Sol-gel techniques. In order to tailor metal-support interface for catalytic CO oxidation reaction, Pt nanoparticles and thin films are deposited in varying surface coverages on sputtered titania films using APD. To assess the role of oxide support at the interface, APD-Pt is deposited on sputtered and Sol-gel prepared titania films. Lastly, characteristics of APD-Pt process are compared with Pt impregnation technique. Our results show that activity of Pt nanoparticles is improved when supported over Sol-Gel prepared titania than sputtered titania film. It is suggested that this enhanced activity can be partly ascribed to a very rough titania surface with the higher free metal surface area and higher number of sites at the interface between the metal and the support. Also, APD-Pt shows superior catalytic activity under CO oxidation as compared to Pt impregnation on sputtered titania support. XPS results show that bulk oxide is formed on Pt when deposited through impregnation and has higher proportion of oxidized Pt in the form of $Pt^{2+/4+}$ oxidation states than Pt metal. APD-Pt shows, however, mild oxidation with large proportion of active Pt metal. APD-Pt also shows trend of increasing CO oxidation activity with number of shots. The activity continues to increase with surface coverage beyond 100%, thus suggesting a very rough and porous Pt films with higher active surface metal sites due to an increased surface area available for the reactant CO and $O_2$ molecules. The results suggest a novel approach for systematic investigation into metal oxide interface by rational catalysts design which can be extended to other metal-support systems in the future.