1. Polymer Single Crystal as
Magnetically Recoverable Support for
Nanocatalysts
Bin Dong, David L. Miller, Christopher Y. Li
Department of Material Science and
Engineering, Drexel University,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2012, Vol. 3, 1346-1350
2. Motivation
Can polymer single crystal be used as a catalyst support?
General requirement for catalyst support
•High surface area to volume ratio
•High catalyst loading
•Recyclability
•Versatility
•Chemical inertness
Polymer single crystal meets all the above requirements!!!
3. Why polymer single crystal???
•Thin (about 8nm)
•High surface area to volume ratio (equivalent to 12nm nanoparticle)
•Easy fabrication (self seeding method)
•Mass production (solution crystallization)
•Uniform in size, shape and thickness (little variations)
•Easy end functionalization (SH, OH, COOH, NH2, Silane et al.)
•Easy nanoparticle immobilization (AuNP, MNP, QD, et al.)
How to realize it???
4. Dual functionalization enables the immobilization
of two types of nanoparticle materials
Dual functionalization
Functions of nanoparticles:
• PtNP: catalyst for chemical reaction
• Fe3O4NP: magnetic responsive material for fast recycling
5. High loading of both PtNP and Fe3O4 NP!!!
Loading of nanocatayst as high as 20%
by weight Two different particles clearly visible
PSC/PtNP PSC/PtNP/Fe3O4NP
6. Synergetic interaction Catalytic activity booster!!!
PSC/PtNP/Fe3O4NP is 5 times more catalytic active
than PSC/PtNP
catalyst
4-nitrophenol 4-aminophenol
PSC/PtNP PSC/PtNP/Fe3O4NP
PtNP in PtNP/Fe3O4NP ensemble is electron rich due to the electron
transfer from Fe3O4NP to PtNP
8. Conclusion
• Polymer single crystal can be used as magnetically recyclable
nanocatalyst support
• Polymer single crystal is capable of immobilizing two different
nanoparticles on its surface with high loading with PtNP as the
nanocatalyst and Fe3O4NP as the magnetic responsive material
• The synergetic interaction between PtNP and Fe3O4NP brings
enhanced catalytic activity
• Fast recycling and fully reusable
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the NSF (DMR-0804838 and CMMI-1100166). TEM
experiments were carried out at the Drexel’s Centralized Research Facility. We would
like to thank Dr. Timothy Wade for assisting AFM experiments.