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Microgravity Effects on Chronoamperometric Ammonia Oxidation Reaction at Platinum Nanoparticles on Modified Mesoporous Carbon Supports

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Abstract

The effect of microgravity on the electrochemical oxidation of ammonia at platinum nanoparticles supported on modified mesoporous carbons (MPC) with three different pore diameters (64, 100, and 137 Å) was studied via the chronoamperometric technique in a half-cell. The catalysts were prepared by a H2 reductive process of PtCl\(_{6}^{\mathrm {4-}}\) in presence of the mesoporous carbon support materials. A microgravity environment was obtained with an average gravity of less than 0.02 g created aboard an airplane performing parabolic maneuvers. Results show the chronoamperommetry of the ammonia oxidation reaction in 1.0 M NH4OH at 0.60 V vs. RHE under microgravity conditions. The current density, in all three catalysts, decreased while in microgravity conditions when compared to ground based experiments. Under microgravity, all three catalysts yielded a decrease in ammonia oxidation reaction current density between 25 to 63% versus terrestrial experimental results, in time scales between 1 and 15 s. The Pt catalyst prepared with mesoporous carbon of 137 Å porous showed the smallest changes, between 25 to 48%. Nanostructuring catalyst materials have an effect on the level of current density decrease under microgravity conditions.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by NASA-MIRO Center for Advanced Nanoscale Materials under NASA Grant No. NNX10AQ17A. C.M. Poventud-Estrada will like to acknowledge the NASA-Jenkins Pre-Doctoral Fellowship. The authors would like to thank NSF-PREM Grant No. DMR-0934218, the Welch Foundation Grant No. AX-1615, and NSF Grant DMR-1103730, “Alloys at the Nanoscale: The Case of Nanoparticles Second Phase”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR, 00931, USA

    Carlos M. Poventud-Estrada & Raúl Acevedo

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR, 00931, USA

    Camila Morales, Luis Betancourt, Diana C. Diaz, Eduardo Nicolau & Carlos R. Cabrera

  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78249, USA

    Manuel A. Rodriguez III, Eduardo Larios & Miguel José-Yacaman

  4. Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Universidad de Sonora, 83000, Hermosillo, Sonora, México

    Eduardo Larios

  5. NASA Ames Research Center, Bioengineering Branch, Moffett Field, CA, 94036, USA

    Michael Flynn

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  1. Carlos M. Poventud-Estrada
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Poventud-Estrada, C.M., Acevedo, R., Morales, C. et al. Microgravity Effects on Chronoamperometric Ammonia Oxidation Reaction at Platinum Nanoparticles on Modified Mesoporous Carbon Supports. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 29, 381–389 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-017-9558-5

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