Electronic behavior, platinum clusters

The next section will describe the experimental techniques we use to synthesize and study clusters and present typical data. The following section will discuss the cluster size sensitive behavior observed in kinetic studies of H-H and C-H bond activation reactions as well as the size sensitive behavior of hydrogen uptake, and discusses the potential implications of these experiments in catalysis and chemisorption. The last section gives the highlights of recent studies of the electronic properties of mass selected, monodispersed, platinum clusters containing up to 6 Pt atoms supported on Si02. 

In a carbon-supported metal electrocatalyst, the electronic interaction between metal and carbon support has a significant effect on its electrochemical performance [4], For carbon-supported Pt electrocatalyst, carbon could accelerate the electron transfer at the electrode-electrolyte interface, leading to an accelerated electrode process. Typically, the electrons are transferred from platinum clusters to the oxygen species on the surfece of a carbon support material and the chemical bond formation or the charge transfer process occurs at the contacting phase, which is considered to be beneficial to the enhancement of the catalytic properties in terms of activity and stability of the electrocatalysts. Experimentally, the investigation into the electron interaction between metal catalyst and support materials could be realized by various physical, spectroscopic, and electrochemical approaches. The electron donation behavior of Pt to carbon support materials has been demonstrated by the electron spin resonance (ESR) X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies, with the conclusion that the electron interaction between Pt and carbon support depends on their Fermi level of electrons. It is considered that the electronic structure change of Pt on carbon support induced by the electron interaction has positive effect toward the enhancement of the catalytic properties and the improvement of the stability of the electrocatalyst system. However, the exact quantitative relationship between electronic interaction of carbon-supported catalyst and its electrocatalytic performance is still not yet fully established [4]. 

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