Selective synthesis and characterization of metallic cobalt, cobalt/platinum, and platinum microspheres

Abstract Metallic cobalt microspheres have been successfully synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method in the presence of poly (N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP), and the diameters of these spheres are in the range of 1–2 μm. Bimetallic Co/Pt microspheres and hollow noble metal Pt microspheres have also been selectively synthesized by adjusting the amount of reactants of replacement reaction in which corresponding noble metal compound and metallic cobalt microspheres are used as starting materials. The study on catalytic activities of the as-prepared metallic microspheres on hydrolysis of ammonia-borane for hydrogen generation reveals that Co/Pt (molar ratio 5:1) bimetallic microspheres are far more active than the hollow noble metal Pt microspheres.