Carbonization over PFA-protected dispersed platinum: an effective route to synthesize high performance mesoporous-carbon supported Pt electrocatalysts

An alternative and effective route of synthesizing mesoporous carbon supported Pt nanoparticles is introduced. In reverse order to the conventional synthetic route, carbonization occurs after dispersion of platinum. In this process, H2PtCl6 acts as a Pt source and also serves as a catalyst for the polymerization of furfuryl alcohol (FA). The polymerized FA around the H2PtCl6 nanoparticles functions as a protecting agent and prevents the growth of Pt nanoparticles in the later high temperature carbonization step. The resulting Pt nanoparticles are highly dispersed in the mesoporous carbon structure, CMK3, and give a much higher methanol oxidation current when compared with Pt/CMK3 electrocatalysts prepared via the conventional route.