Noble metal catalysts supported on nanofibrous polymeric membranes for environmental applications

• The effect of preparation method on metal particle size and catalytic activity was investigated for Pd and Pt catalysts.
• For the different impregnation time, catalysts with the same metal loading but different mean particle size were prepared.
• The activity of Pt catalyst in the total oxidation of methanol depended linearly on the mean size of Pt nanoparticles.
• Palladium catalyst exhibited the same catalytic performance irrespective of the varying the mean Pd particle size.

The effect of preparation method on the particle size of palladium and platinum nanoparticles supported on poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene) oxide electrospun membranes by the wet impregnation technique was investigated. Catalysts with similar metal loading (0.63–0.78 wt.%) possessing various mean metal particle size (2.5–8.7 nm) were prepared employing different impregnation times and nominal metal loadings. The catalysts were tested in the total oxidation of methanol (1000 ppm in air). The catalytic activity of platinum catalysts increased with increasing size of Pt nanoparticles while the effect of the platinum loading was not observed. On the other hand, the catalytic activity of palladium catalysts increased with the increasing palladium loading and did not correlate with the nanoparticle size.

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