A low-temperature synthesis of electrochemical active Pt nanoparticles and thin films by atomic layer deposition on Si(111) and glassy carbon surfaces

• Pure Pt films were grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) using MeCpPtMe3 and ozone.
• ALD-grown Pt thin films had high growth rates of 110 pm/cycle.
• ALD-grown Pt films were electrocatalytic for hydrogen evolution from water.
• Electrocatalytic activity of the ALD Pt films was equivalent to e-beam deposited Pt.
• No carbon species were detected in the ALD-grown Pt films.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) was used to deposit nanoparticles and thin films of Pt onto etched p-type Si(111) wafers and glassy carbon discs. Using precursors of MeCpPtMe3 and ozone and a temperature window of 200–300 °C, the growth rate was 80–110 pm/cycle. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to analyze the composition, structure, morphology, and thickness of the ALD-grown Pt nanoparticle films. The catalytic activity of the ALD-grown Pt for the hydrogen evolution reaction was shown to be equivalent to that of e-beam evaporated Pt on glassy carbon electrode.