Study of the Deposition Reaction

In the case of powder bulk catalysts, Cu Raney was modified by direct redox reaction between reduced copper and the salt of a noble metal M (Ru, Pt and Au) [5, 7]. Typically the Cu-M bimetallic catalysts were obtained by mixing a freshly prepared Cu Raney with an aqueous solution of the noble metal salt. When the amount of M is in excess compared to the number of copper surface atoms, it appears that ruthenium deposition is restricted to approximately 1/3 of the copper surface atoms. For platinum and gold, a deposit larger than a monolayer is obtained, indicating that subsurface copper atoms are involved in direct redox reaction. This result is explained by the lower potential difference between copper and rathenium compared to those of copper and platinum or gold [7j. However, the reactions involved in the direct redox reaction may not be as simple as indicated in Section 9.2. A typical time distribution of ion concentrations in solution during the preparation of Cu-Pt is shown in Fig. 9.1. It can be observed that platinum ions disappear very rapidly from the solution while at the same time copper 

Recently, novel catalysts were obtained by impregnation of Cu-Pt or Cu-Pd nanospheres on active carbon by the incipient-wetness technique. The bimetallic species were obtained by direct redox reaction between the surface of bulk copper nanospheres and Pt or Pd salts [8]. 

---