Catalysts 2018, 8(9), 395; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal8090395
Microemulsion-Based One-Step Electrochemical Fabrication of Mesoporous Catalysts
1
Grup d’Electrodeposició de Capes Primes i Nanoestructures (Ge-CPN), Departament de Ciència de Materials i Química Física, Universitat de Barcelona Martí i Franquès 1, E-08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
2
Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN2UB), Universitat de Barcelona Martí i Franquès 1, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 1 September 2018 / Revised: 11 September 2018 / Accepted: 11 September 2018 / Published: 14 September 2018
Abstract
Electrochemical technology has been proposed as an alternative or complementary method to classical inorganic synthesis for the fabrication of effective metallic solid catalysts. Microemulsion-based electrodeposition is a novel, fast, and one-step procedure to obtain mesoporous catalysts with extraordinarily effective areas, which can be used in heterogeneous catalysis for degradation of pollutants and clean energy production. The fabrication process involves conducting microemulsions containing ionic species (dissolved in aqueous solutions) as precursors of the metallic catalysts. The presence of nanometric droplets of organic or ionic-liquid components in the microemulsion defines the mesoporosity of the catalysts during a one-step electrodeposition process. This method also allows the fabrication of metal catalysts as supported mesoporous films or mesoporous nanowires with very high effective areas. Additionally, reactants have excellent accessibility to the overall surface of the catalysts. The different catalysts fabricated with the help of this technology have been tested for competitive degradation of organic pollutants and anodes' materials for fuel cell devices. View Full-TextKeywords:
mesoporous; electrodeposition; microemulsion; heterogeneous catalysis; soft-templating; alcohol electrooxidation; water decontamination
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Serrà, A.; Vallés, E. Microemulsion-Based One-Step Electrochemical Fabrication of Mesoporous Catalysts. Catalysts 2018, 8, 395.
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