Abstract
Nanoscale palladium clusters in the form of parallel strips have been formed on the surface of graphite with the help of a surface micellar template of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide using a chemical deposition method. The repeat period of the palladium strips deposited at 25 °C is 65 nm, with a width of 40 nm and height of 2 nm. The elemental composition of the metal clusters was confirmed using X-ray fluorescence analysis and TEM-EDX. The fact that the strips are composed of metallic palladium was also confirmed by testing the membrane electrode assembly with the strips in a commercial fuel cell. Using the obtained micellar template, the radius of the curvature of the AFM probe tip was estimated with the help of a unique method. The radius is equal to 10 nm and matches the value provided by the manufacturer.
Highlights
The properties of materials and the functional capabilities of macroscopic objects change significantly when one or more dimensions becomes less than 100 nm.[1]
Surface micelles at the graphite/liquid interface were examined using contact Atomic force microscopy investigation (AFM) mode in the fluid cell, while the synthesized palladium strips were examined in discontinuous contact mode in air
Chemical deposition of metallic palladium on pyrographite was performed in accordance with the aforementioned method
Summary
The properties of materials and the functional capabilities of macroscopic objects change significantly when one or more dimensions becomes less than 100 nm.[1]. In order to create surface micelles at the interface, droplets of 1 mM CTAB and 0.1 mM PdCl2 water solutions were deposited on the clear support surface and were maintained at a certain temperature for 30 minutes.
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