Synthesis and catalytic performance of polydopamine supported metal nanoparticles

Haoqi Li,Yao Zhao,Fei Ren,Jong Keum,Erica R Mckenzie,Adrienne G Donaghue,Jiaxin Xi,Ke An

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-67458-9

Haoqi Li, Yao Zhao + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67458-9

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Abstract

Polydopamine (PDA) is an emerging nature-inspired biopolymer material that possesses many interesting properties including self-assembly and universal adhesion. PDA is also able to form coordination bonds with various metal ions, which can be reduced to metal nanoparticles (NPs) as a result of thermal annealing under protective environment. In this study, PDA has been utilized as a support material to synthesize Pt NPs in an aqueous solution at room temperature. The catalytic performance of the resulting PDA-Pt nanocomposite was evaluated using an electrochemical workstation which showed comparable activity to Pt/C material for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Furthermore, Cu, Ni, and Cu–Ni NPs supported on PDA were also obtained using this strategy with assistance of subsequent thermal annealing. The phase evolution of the NPs was studied by in-situ X-ray diffraction while the morphology of the nanoparticles was investigated using electron microscopic techniques. Preliminary results showed the NPs supported on PDA also possessed HER activity. This work demonstrates that PDA can be utilized as a potential support for synthesis of metal NPs that can be exploited in engineering applications such as catalysts.

Highlights

With over a decade of research and exploration, polydopamine (PDA) has been found to possess multiple interesting properties such as capabilities of universal coating and self-assembly in alkaline solutions[1]
Literature studies showed that carbonized PDA exhibited good catalytic performance in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction likely due to its high surface area and abundant exposed active sites resulting from its porous structure[19, 20]
Another study showed PDA coating helped to protect the metal NPs supported on the carbon nanohorn (CNH) and increased their stability[21]

Summary

Introduction

With over a decade of research and exploration, polydopamine (PDA) has been found to possess multiple interesting properties such as capabilities of universal coating and self-assembly in alkaline solutions[1]. Electron beam reduction employed in our previous work highlighted a potential method for in-situ metal ion reduction[11]. Literature studies showed that carbonized PDA exhibited good catalytic performance in HER and oxygen evolution reaction likely due to its high surface area and abundant exposed active sites resulting from its porous structure[19, 20]. The new processing method was further extended to synthesize Cu, Ni, and Cu-Ni alloy NPs in thin films and powders of M-PDA. Their morphology and structure were studied, and their HER performance was measured and discussed

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