High Catalytic Activity of CoxPt100−x Alloys for Phenolic Compound Reduction

In this study, we report the influence of the Pt concentration in CoxPt100−x alloys on the catalytic activity of the alloys for 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) reduction. More precisely, a series of CoxPt100−x alloys with a Pt concentration ranging between 60% and 95% were prepared using electrodeposition at controlled potentials from stable hexachloroplatinate aqueous solution. The Pt concentration was tuned by varying the electrodeposition potential from −0.6 to −0.9 V. The changes in the CoxPt100−x alloy microstructure and crystalline structure have been investigated using SEM and TEM analysis. Our results show that the microstructure and the crystalline structure of the as-prepared materials do not depend on the electrodeposition potential. However, the catalytic activity of CoxPt100−x alloys is closely correlated with the potential applied during electrochemical synthesis, hence the Pt content. We demonstrated that the synthesized materials present a high catalytic activity (approx. 90%) after six cycles of reusability despite the fact that the Pt content of the as-prepared alloys decreases. The easy preparation method that guarantees more than 97% catalytic activity of the CoxPt100−x alloys, the easy recovery from solution, and the possibility of reusing the CoxPt100−x alloys are the benefits of the present study.