Platinum-nickel alloy nanoparticles supported on carbon for 3-pentanone hydrogenation

Highlights: • The PtNi/Ni(OH)₂/C catalyst was successfully synthesized at room temperature. • PtNi alloy/C was obtained after PtNi/Ni(OH)₂/C reduced in hydrogen at 300 °C. • Nanostructures of the PtNi catalysts were characterized by numerous techniques. • PtNi alloy/C exhibited high catalytic activity for 3-pentanone hydrogenation. - Abstract: In this work, we prepared the Ni/Ni(OH)₂/C sample at room temperature by hydrazine hydrate reducing method. The galvanic replacement reaction method was applied to deposit platinum on the Ni/Ni(OH)₂ nanoparticles, to prepare the PtNi/Ni(OH)₂/C catalyst. The catalyst of platinum-nickel alloy nanoparticles supported on carbon (signed as PtNi/C) was obtained by the thermal treatment of PtNi/Ni(OH)₂/C in flowing hydrogen at 300 °C for 2 h. The size, nanostructure, surface properties, Pt and Ni chemical states of the PtNi/C catalyst were analyzed using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), high-angle annular dark-field scanning TEM (HAADF-STEM) and elemental energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) line scanning, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and high-sensitivity low-energy ion scattering spectroscopy (HS-LEIS) techniques. The as-synthesized PtNi/C catalyst showed enhanced catalytic performance relative to the Ni/Ni(OH)₂/C, Ni/C, Pt/C and PtNi/Ni(OH)₂/C catalysts for 3-pentanone hydrogenation due to electron synergistic effect between Pt and Ni species in the PtNi/C catalyst. The PtNi/C catalyst also had exceling stability, with industrial application value.