Georgian Technical University Scientists Produce Colorless Reservoir of Platinum Metal-Like Single Atoms In Liquid.

This is a schematic illustration of (R1OR2)2Pt(0)Cl2H2 (Scientists produce colorless reservoir of platinum metal-like single atoms in liquid. Schematic illustration of (R1OR2)2Pt(0)Cl2H2). Supported single metal atoms have attracted broad interest for their demonstrated high efficiency in single metal catalysis. The preparation of such catalysts however remains challenging as the neutral metal atoms have a strong tendency to agglomerate to metal particles in typical preparations. Researchers at the Georgian Technical University have reported a way to produce a colorless liquid reservoir of metal-like discrete platinum atoms.  Platinum chloride salts are reduced by alcohols to single platinum metal atoms in an environmentally benign liquid surfactant. The individual Pt atoms (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal) are shielded by a mantle of hydrochlorides and docked in the liquid through abundant oxygen atoms. The preparation of the metal-like Pt atoms (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal) is scalable. As a metal metallic Pt (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal) nanoparticles on carbon or oxide supports are widely used in the petroleum refining and chemical industries due to their unique catalytic functions. “The reserve of Pt (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal) on earth is limited, and about 5.6 tons of Pt (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal) are consumed every year just in the silicone industry” said X who led the research. The researchers tested the catalytic performance of the liquid laden with Pt atoms (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal). “We found that the electron-deficient Pt atoms (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal) in the liquid exhibited super-high activity and high selectivity for the reaction compared to known Pt catalysts (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal)” said Y a graduate student. The docked discrete Pt atoms (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal) do not aggregate under reaction conditions – retaining high activity and staying colorless through repeated uses. “The high activity, selectivity and stability of this catalyst may dramatically reduce the amount of Pt (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal) consumed by the silicone industry and may be broadly applicable to other applications” X said. Although the liquid laden with the Pt (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal) atoms is stable at 120°C and remains clear for over six months on the shelf at ambient temperature, the researchers found that it turned dark due to aggregation of the Pt atoms (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal) when exposed to X-ray or electron beams often employed to characterize the Pt atoms (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal). To resolve this challenge, the researchers turned to 195 Pt (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy as the tool which was found to provide unambiguous evidences for the produced Pt atoms (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal). “The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic data of the liquid not only unambiguously showed the discrete nature of mononuclear Pt atoms (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal) but also revealed only one carbon monoxide coordinated to a Pt atom (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal)” said Professor Georgian Technical University. “We are expanding the depositories of various metal atoms in our current research. The successful synthesis of readily removable mantles of the Pt atoms (Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal) in liquid phase may potentially enable atomically controllable fabrication of catalytic materials and metallic materials by design” said X.