Research Article Platinum(0)-1,3-divinyl-1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane Complex as a Pt Source for Pt/SnO 2 Catalyst Agnieszka Martyla, 1 Maciej Kopczyk, 1 Piotr Marciniak, 2 and Robert Przekop 3 1 Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals Division in Poznan, Central Laboratory of Batteries and Cells, 12 Forteczna Street, 61-362 Poznan, Poland 2 Poznan Science and Technology Park of Adam Mickiewicz University Foundation, 46 Rubiez Street, 61-612 Poznan, Poland 3 Centre of Advanced Technologies Adam Mickiewicz University, 6 Grunwaldzka Street, 60-780 Poznan, Poland Correspondence should be addressed to Agnieszka Martyla; agnieszka.martyla@claio.poznan.pl Received 10 January 2014; Revised 13 March 2014; Accepted 27 March 2014; Published 27 April 2014 Academic Editor: Sylwia Mozia Copyright © 2014 Agnieszka Martyla et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. is paper presents new preparation method of Pt/SnO 2 , an important catalytic system. Besides of its application as a heterogenic industrial catalyst, it is also used as a catalyst in electrochemical processes, especially in fuel cells. Platinum is commonly used as an anode catalyst in low temperature fuel cells, fuelled with alcohols of low molecular weight such as methanol. Platinum(0)-1,3- divinyl-1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane complex was used as a precursor of metallic phase. e aim of the research was to obtain a highly active in electrochemical system Pt/SnO 2 catalyst with low metal load. Considering small size of Pt crystallites, it should result in high activity of Pt/SnO 2 system. e presented method of SnO 2 synthesis allows for obtaining support consisting of nanoparticles. e effect of the thermal treatment on activity of Pt/SnO 2 gel was demonstrated. e system properties were investigated using TEM, FTIR (ATR), and XRD techniques to describe its thermal structural evolution. e results showed two electrocatalytical activity peaks for drying at a temperature of 430 K and above 650 K. 1. Introduction e hydrosilylation reaction as practiced industrially employs silicone-soluble, low-valent platinum catalysts called Karstedt’s catalyst which is a platinum divinyl tetram- ethyl disiloxane complex, typically containing about one- weight percent of platinum in an organic solvent, Figure 1. It is known that solutions of Karstedt’s catalyst (Pt(dvs)) thermally decompose with deposition of platinum [1]. is property may be used effectively in formation of metallic phase precursors [1] from such molecular complexes when applying CVD [2] or PVD technique [3]. Typically, an organometallic precursor of the desired metal is vaporized and deposited on a surface, hot enough to decompose the precursor, resulting in deposition of the metal and release of the precursor ligands. Many of the CVD precursors are potential candidates for a low temperature metal deposition process. ese metal precursors are frequently highly soluble in organic media and decompose at moderate temperatures or even under mild UV irradiation conditions [1]. Formation of metallic phase in a low temperature process could compete with traditional methods, in which a high temperature treatment plays a key role [4]. All platinum complexes decompose under oxidizing conditions at below 473 K. e vinyl complex, the so-called Karstedt’s catalyst, was used to produce small Pt clusters [1, 5]. is report describes our first attempts to deposit plat- inum on SnO 2 support via low temperature processes. Pt/SnO 2 has been well-known in catalysis for years and used widely in reactions of reforming, CO, and alcohols oxidation [6–9]. Oxidation of alcohols is a reaction used in fuel cells that are an alternative form of obtaining energy. eir usage is still limited by deactivation of platinum catalyst [10–12] caused by methanol oxidation intermediates. Alcohol oxidation is a multistage process taking place on an electrode surface [13] ((1)–(6)). Carbon dioxide developing Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Nanomaterials Volume 2014, Article ID 275197, 9 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/275197