AVS 54th International Symposium
    Plasma Science and Technology Tuesday Sessions
       Session PS-TuP

Paper PS-TuP16
Size Distribution Factor of Platinum Nanoparticles Synthesized by Plasma in Aqueous Solution

Tuesday, October 16, 2007, 6:00 pm, Room 4C

Session: Plasma Science and Technology Poster Session
Presenter: T. Nishigaki, Nagoya University, Japan
Authors: T. Nishigaki, Nagoya University, Japan
T. Ishizaki, Nagoya University, Japan
N. Saito, Nagoya University, Japan
O. Takai, Nagoya University, Japan
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Well-defined platinum nanoparticles activate of photo catalysis, decompose harmful component in exhaust gas of automobile, lead to high potential of fuel cell. Platinum nanoparticles have been synthesized by various techniques including chemical reduction, photo reduction and electrochemical technique. However, in these techniques, it takes few hours to synthesize the nanoparticles or chemically toxic substances leave in a product. Now, it is required to develop a green process rapidly to synthesize nanoparticles. We have developed ‘Solution Plasma’, which is defined as plasma in aqueous solution. Solution plasma has attracted much attention as a novel chemical reaction field. As solution plasma generates UV light, electrons, and radicals, higher reaction rate would be achieved. In this study, we aimed to synthesize platinum nanoparticles by solution plasma. In addition, we investigated influence of solution pH on the sizes of the platinum nanoparticles. Optical absorption of nanocolloidal platinum was measured by UV-vis spectrometer. The nanoparticles were observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). H2PtCl6?6H2O (1.44mM) and PVP (Polyvinylpyrrolidone, 12.1mM) were used as row materials. The pH of solution was varied from 2.5 to 4.5. The electrical conductivity was adjusted to 1.5mS/cm by the addition of KCl. A pulsed power supply was utilized to generate plasma. Pulsed voltage of 1.6kV was applied between the tungsten electrodes in the solution. Pulse width and frequency were varied from 2.0 to 3.0μs, respectively. Solution color changed from orange to dark brown at discharge times of more than 40 min. An absorption peak at 262 nm originated from PtCl62- became weaker with the increases of the discharge time, while baselines in the spectra became higher in all the range. These results indicate the formation of platinum particles. TEM image shows that the mean diameter of the nanoparticles was 10nm. Debye rings by (111), (200), (220), (311) were also observed by diffraction patterns. The effects of pulse width, frequency and pH on the particle size distribution were also discussed.