Laser-Assisted Production of Carbon-Encapsulated Pt-Co Alloy Nanoparticles for Preferential Oxidation of Carbon Monoxide.

C-encapsulated highly pure PtCo alloy nanoparticles have been synthesized by an innovative one-step laser pyrolysis. The obtained X-ray diffraction pattern and transmission electron microscopy images correspond to PtCo alloy nanoparticles with average diameters of 2.4 nm and well-established crystalline structure. The synthesized PtCo/C catalyst containing 1.5 wt% of PtCo nanoparticles can achieve complete CO conversion in the temperature range 125-175°C working at weight hourly space velocities (WHSV) of 30 L hg. This study shows the first example of bimetallic nanoalloys synthesized by laser pyrolysis and paves the way for a wide variety of potential applications and metal combinations.