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Synthesis of Rh nanoparticles in alcohols: magnetic and electrocatalytic properties

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Abstract

The synthesis of Rh nanoparticles has been performed through an organometallic approach starting from the tris(allyl) rhodium complex, Rh(η3-C3H5)3, as precursor and using an alcohol as both a solvent and a stabilizer, under mild reaction conditions (room temperature; 3 bar H2). The influence of the alcohol used, among methanol, propanol or heptanol, on the morphological and structural characteristics as well as on the magnetic and electrocatalytic properties of the obtained Rh nanoparticles has been investigated. Assemblies of Rh nanoparticles of various sizes have been observed depending on the alkyl chain length of the alcohol used. A noticeable effect of the nanostructured character of these Rh nanoparticles is the appearance of a ferromagnetic ordering at room temperature due to a modified electronic structure. Magnetic moments per atom were determined as follows: 0.099, 0.073 and 0.036 µB for methanol, heptanol and propanol, respectively. The electrochemical evaluation of these Rh nanoparticles on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) showed that the electroactivity depends on the chain length of the alcohol; thus, Rh-heptanol system displayed the highest electroactivity for ORR.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support provided by CONACyT (Project 157613), Dirección de Investigación-Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA) F132021 project, Instituto Politécnico Nacional (SIP-20171186, SIP-20171148), CONACyT CB2015-252181 and C-2014-1905 projects and SNI-CONACyT. The authors would like to acknowledge the technical assistance provided by Luis M. Palacios-Romero. CNRS and University Paul Sabatier Toulouse are also thanked for financial support. The research was conducted in the framework of the “French-Mexican International Laboratory (LIA) LCMMC.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Industrial y de Alimentos, Universidad Iberoamericana, Prolongación Paseo de la Reforma 880, Lomas de Santa Fe, C.P. 01219, Ciudad de México, Mexico

    E. Ramírez-Meneses

  2. LCC (Laboratoire de Chimie de Coordination), CNRS, 205 Route de Narbonne, BP 44099, 31077, Toulouse Cedex 4, France

    K. Philippot & M. Ibrahim

  3. Université de Toulouse, UPS, INPT, 31077, Toulouse Cedex 4, France

    K. Philippot & M. Ibrahim

  4. Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro de Investigación en Ciencia Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada - Unidad Altamira, Km 14.5 Carretera Tampico-Puerto Industrial, C.P. 89600, Altamira, Tamaulipas, Mexico

    M. A. Domínguez-Crespo & A. M. Torres-Huerta

  5. Departamento de Materiales Metálicos y Cerámicos, Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico

    I. Betancourt

  6. Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Química e Industrias Extractivas, UPALM Ed. 7, C.P. 07738, Zacatenco, Ciudad de México, Mexico

    A. Ezeta-Mejia

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  1. E. Ramírez-Meneses
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Correspondence to E. Ramírez-Meneses.

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Ramírez-Meneses, E., Philippot, K., Domínguez-Crespo, M.A. et al. Synthesis of Rh nanoparticles in alcohols: magnetic and electrocatalytic properties. J Mater Sci 53, 8933–8950 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-2221-8

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