The Application Of Nanoporous Metals In Electrochemical Detection And Gas Phase Catalysis

The novel class of nanoporous metallic materials used in this paper are fabricated through dealloying and galvanic replacement reaction. Take advantage of its unique structural properties, high surface - to - volume ratio and great porosity, nanoporous materials are expected to play an important role in the future. The first part is concerning the performance of nanoporous gold which designed by free dealloying and modified electrochemical dealloying method in glucose oxidation. As a fabrication of novel electrochemical sensors, it's also crucial to know whether the sensitivity, the detection limit, the anti-interferents and the reproducibility of this material satisfy to the demands. Another part is about the structure of Pt doped nanoporous copper and its catalytic performance to the water gas shift reaction. The purpose is to study the electrocatalytic and catalytic properties of those metals.(1)Research on the performance of NPG membranes in glucose electrocatalyticNPG with extremely clean surface fabricated by the facile dealloying process was used as the working electrode in glucose electrooxidation and detection. The excellent performances can be attributed to the good electric conductivity and its activity could be regenerated after removing the oxidation products on the surface. The structure of three-dimensional and continuous pore channels is also a significant factor. As Au surface oxide is highly active for oxidizing the adsorbed intermediate species resulted from the glucose electroadsorption that we could further improve the catalytic performance of NPG by tailoring the surface structure. The detection results in alkaline solutions promised an electrocatalyst for application in glucose fuel cell and the results in neutral media makes it a great possibility material to be used as enzyme-free glucose sensor. It was also found that the reproducibility of NPG is well. (2) The preparation of platinum-doped nanoporous copper and research on their catalytic performance to the water gas shift reaction.Two different methods were used to synthesize Pt-doped nanoporous copper and the catalytic performances to the water gas shift reaction were also evaluated. The content of Pt which obtained from dealloying is different with the samples fabricated from galvanic replacement reaction. This is the reason why the structures are not unique and the properties are dissimilar. It was found that the low Pt content bimetals show higher catalytic activity than Pt or Cu. The analysis is that the bimetals not only can exhibit the coordination between the two different metals but also can make use of the nanoporous structures. Interestingly, the high Pt content material was not good catalysis which can be owe to the Pt poisoned.