A NEW ELECTROCATALYST CONSISTING OF A MOLECULARLY HOMOGENEOUS PLATINUM-AEROGEL NANOCOMPOSITE

Aerogels offer interesting opportunities for (electro)catalysis due to their high porosity and specific surface area. A new electrocatalytic material consisting of a molecularly homogeneous platinum-aerogel nan ocomposite was prepared. The mixed components represent, at the micros copic level, very homogeneous combinations originating from chemical i nteractions at the molecular scale in the liquid phase that can be vie wed as ''frozen in'' in the solid state via supercritical drying. Tran smission electron microscopy (TEM) images of this material clearly sho w that nanometer-size platinum particles are homogeneously distributed and are a part of the molecular architecture of the composite. An X-r ay photoelectronic spectroscopy (XPS) study indicates that there exist s a special interaction between platinum and the support within a poly acrylonitrile-Pt (PAN-Pt) electrocatalyst. This material is a promisin g electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction, and its electrocatalytic activ ity arises from the nanodispersed platinum particles present in the na nocomposite.