RESUMO
Platinum nanoparticles were deposited on oxygen plasma treated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The treatment time with oxygen plasma generated by microwaves under a power of 600 W varied from 5 to 20 s. The number of ALD cycles was controlled at 5-125. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis indicated that oxygen plasma can graft oxygen-containing functional groups to the CNT surface to act as nucleation sites for growth of Pt nanoparticles. Formation of very uniform and well distributed Pt nanoparticles of a size of 1.60-4.80 nm was achieved. The growth rate of Pt nanoparticles could be controlled by the number of ALD cycles and oxygen plasma treatment time. This offers a dry process to deposit well-dispersed metallic nanoparticles on selected support materials.
