Nanofabrication of planar model catalysts by colloidal lithography : Pt/ceria and Pt/alumina

• We present a novel method, called colloidal lithography, to prepare well-defined model catalysts on planar supports. The method facilitates fabrication of monodisperse catalyst particles with variable, well-defined size, shape, and interparticle distance. The chemical and structural composition of the constituents (i.e., catalyst particles and support materials) maybe independently varied. Large batches of model catalysts may be made in short processing times, with the dimensions of the samples only limited by the physical dimension of available support material, the processing vacuum systems, and so forth. Here we employed 2 in. Si wafers cut into 1 x 1 cm(2) pieces as the primary lithography support, onto which the support (ceria and alumina) and active catalyst materials (Pt in this case) were deposited. A detailed chemical and structural characterization is presented of the individual steps in the fabrication process. The oxygen plasma used to remove the colloidal mask residues is shown to lead to substantial but reversible Pt oxidation. As a probe reaction, to validate the nanofabrication process, CO oxidation measurements were performed on 130 nm Pt particles on an alumina or a ceria support. The reactivity measurements are in good agreement with literature data and suggest a satisfactory performance of the colloidal lithography model catalysts.

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