Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published June 2013 | public
Journal Article

Block Copolymer Lithography of Rhodium Nanoparticles for High Temperature Electrocatalysis

Abstract

We present a method for forming ordered rhodium nanostructures on a solid support. The approach makes use of a block copolymer to create and assemble rhodium chloride nanoparticles from solution onto a surface; subsequent plasma and thermal processing are employed to remove the polymer and fully convert the nanostructures to metallic rhodium. Films cast from a solution of the triblock copolymer poly(styrene-b-2-vinyl pyridine-b-ethylene oxide) dissolved in toluene with rhodium(III) chloride hydrate were capable of producing a monolayer of rhodium nanoparticles of uniform size and interparticle spacing. The nanostructures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The electrocatalytic performance of the nanoparticles was investigated with AC impedance spectroscopy. We observed that the addition of the particles to a model solid oxide fuel cell anode provided up to a 14-fold improvement in the anode activity as evidenced by a decrease in the AC impedance resistance. Examination of the anode after electrochemical measurement revealed that the basic morphology and distribution of the particles were preserved.

Additional Information

© 2013 American Chemical Society. Received for review January 11, 2013 and accepted May 28, 2013. Published online May 28, 2013. We thank the Stanford Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) for their generous support of this work. Additional support was provided by the National Science Foundation through the Caltech Center for the Science and Engineering of Materials, a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (DMR-0520565).

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 24, 2023