Carbon Nanoparticle-Supported Pd Obtained by Solar Physical Vapor Deposition

Abstract

Palladium supported on carbon nanoparticles has been obtained on a specially designed ceramic catalyst, obtained by thermal spraying on a copper substrate, starting from Pd/C targets. Solar physical vapor deposition in argon, an environment-friendly and energy-efficient alternative to arc or chemical vapor deposition, has been employed as a means of target vaporization at CNRS-PROMES facility in Odeillo, France. The obtained nanoparticles have a spherical-porous morphology with diameters ranging from 50 to 120 nm and specific sorption areas of 50,000 m2/g. The XRD diffractograms indicate the presence of dominatingly crystalline short-range ordered graphene oxide layers, in contrast with the amorphous Pd/C starting precursor. The presence of palladium (0.6% wt.) at the surface of the nanoparticles was proved by the EDX and XRD analyses, making the synthesized material useful in applications such as catalysis or gas sorption.