Platinum overlaid PdCulr/C: an Improved Methanol Oxidation Elextrocatalyst

A platinum overlaid PdCuIr/C (Pt-PdIrCu/C) anodic catalyst for direct methanol fuel cell was prepared by a two-step reduction method. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that the metal nano-particles had a large surface area and even distribution. The Pt mass activity of the catalyst was about 6.6 times larger than that of a Pt/C catalyst and 1.2 times larger than that of a Pt-PdCu/C catalyst. The high electrocatalytic activities could be attributed to the synergistic effect between Pt and PdIrCu.Web of Scienc

Amorphous Pt@dCu/CNT catalyst for methanol elextrooxidation

A multi-walled carbon nanotube-supported, Pt decorated nano-sized amorphous PdCu alloy cores (denoted as Pt@PdCu/CNT) catalyst with lower Pt loading is synthesized via a galvanic displacement reaction. The structure is examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The electrochemical activity of the Pt@PdCu/CNT catalyst is tested by cyclic voltammogrametry (CV) and compared to that of PtRu/CNT catalysts. The results show that amorphous Pt@PdCu/CNT catalyst exhibits better electro-catalytic performances for methanol oxidation than its crystalline counterpart.IS

Beef-derived mesoporous carbon as highly efficient support for PtRuIr electrocatalysts and their high activity for CO and methanol oxidation

In this work, a low-cost and nitrogen-containing carbon with mesoporous pores and high surface area was synthesized by carbonizing a natural biomass precursor, i.e. beef. It is found that the prepared material has excellent textural properties such as high specific surface areas and large pore diameters. TEM images showed that the PtRuIr nanoparticles were well dispersed on the surface of carbonized beef (C-Beef). PtRuIr/C-Beef was highly active for methanol electro-oxidation. PtRuIr/C-Beef showed superior catalytic activity to PtRuIr/C, i.e. lower onset potential and higher oxidation current density. Cyclic voltammograms of CO electro-oxidation showed that PtRuIr/C-Beef catalyst was kinetically more active for CO electro-oxidation than PtRuIr deposited on conventional carbon support. The highly porous structure and low cost of carbonized beef can be widely used as support for highly dispersed metal nanoparticles to increase their electrochemical performance as electrocatalysts

Selenium-functionalized carbon as a support for platinum nanoparticles with improved electrochemical properties for the oxygen reduction reaction and CO tolerance

Using selenium-functionalized carbon as supports, platinum nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed on the carbon surface, and showed improved electrochemical properties for the oxygen reduction reaction. At the same time the CO tolerance is improved. The method provides a new route for functionalization of the carbon surface on which to disperse noble metal nanoparticles for use as electrocatalysts in the oxygen reduction reaction.Web of Scienc

Selenium-functionalized carbon as a support for platinum nanoparticles with improved electrochemical properties for the oxygen reduction reaction and CO tolerance

Using selenium-functionalized carbon as supports, platinum nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed on the carbon surface, and showed improved electrochemical properties for the oxygen reduction reaction. At the same time the CO tolerance is improved. The method provides a new route for functionalization of the carbon surface on which to disperse noble metal nanoparticles for use as electrocatalysts in the oxygen reduction reaction.Web of Scienc

Palygorskite hybridized carbon nanocomposite as a high-performance electrocatalyst support for formic acid oxidation

A nanocomposite, in which acid-treated palygorskite was hybridized with carbon, was prepared and designed as an efficient support for electrocatatlysts. Pd nanoparticles were deposited on the hybrid support as an electrocatalyst for formic acid oxidation. The hybrid supports and electrocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).TEMandXRDresults showed that acid treatment had an effective impact on the morphology of palygorskite, but did not destroy its architecture. XPS results indicated that the introduction of palygorskite resulted in a negative shift of binding energy of Pd deposited on it. The electrochemical results showed that the addition of palygorskite into the carbon facilitated the formation ofOHads orOads on the surface of Pd/C-PLS, and further improved the formic acid electrooxidation activity. Therefore, considerable improvements in electrocatalytic activity toward formic acid oxidation was achieved by using this hybrid support when compared with conventional carbon support, suggesting that the introduction of SiO2-based porous palygoriskite was an excellent and cost-efficient way to improve the electrocatalytic performance of carbon support.Web of Scienc

The effect of PtRuIr nanoparticle crystallinity in electrocatalytic methanol oxidation

Two structural forms of a ternary alloy PtRuIr/C catalyst, one amorphous and one highly crystalline, were synthesized and compared to determine the effect of their respective structures on their activity and stability as anodic catalysts in methanol oxidation. Characterization techniques included TEM, XRD, and EDX. Electrochemical analysis using a glassy carbon disk electrode for cyclic voltammogram and chronoamperometry were tested in a solution of 0.5 mol L−1 CH3OH and 0.5 mol L−1 H2SO4. Amorphous PtRuIr/C catalyst was found to have a larger electrochemical surface area, while the crystalline PtRuIr/C catalyst had both a higher activity in methanol oxidation and increased CO poisoning rate. Crystallinity of the active alloy nanoparticles has a big impact on both methanol oxidation activity and in the CO poisoning rate

Nitrogen-doped carbon coated ZeO2 as a support to Pt nanoparticles in the oxygen reduction reaction

A new nitrogen-doped carbon (CNx) support for Pt electrocatalysts was prepared by carbonizing polypyrrole on the surface of ZrO2 (ZrO2@CNx) at high temperature. Well-dispersed Pt nanoparticles were easily formed on the ZrO2@CNx. The electrocatalyst was characterized by FT-IR, XRD, TEM, XPS. The electrochemical performances indicate that the presence of ZrO2 modified the electro-structure of Pt on the catalyst surface and that ZrO2@CNx had superior oxygen reduction activity compared to a nitrogen-doped carbon coated carbon (C@CNx).Web of Scienc

Effect of the structure of Ni nanoparticles on the electrocatalytic activity of Ni@Pd/C for formic acid oxidation

Ni@Pd/C catalysts were synthesized, using Ni/C with different crystalline structures prepared with various ligands. A series of characterizations were performed by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results indicated the electrocatalysts with amorphous/crystalline (denoted as Nia and Nic) Ni structures decorated with Pd. The formic acid electrocatalytic oxidation results showed that the peak current of Nia@Pd/C was about 1.2 times higher than that of Nic@Pd/C. The good electrochemical performance and stability of Pd-modified amorphous Ni substrate reveals that the core structure plays an important role in the electrocatalytic activity and the change of the structure can improve the activity and stability of electrocatalysts.Web of Scienc

Ethanol oxidation activity and structure of carbon-supported Pt-modified PdSn-SnO2 influenced by different stabilizers

PdSn-SnO2 nanoparticles supported on Vulcan XC-72 carbon were synthesized by chemical reduction in the presence of three different stabilizing agents: ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA), sodium citrate (Nacitrate) and hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA). TEM analysis showed that PdSn-SnO2 /C catalyst made using the HMTA stabilizer produced the smallest particle size. XRD analysis detected the presence of PdSn alloy and the SnO2 phase in all three PdSn-SnO2 /C samples, and showed that PdSn-SnO2 (HMTA) had the smallest lattice parameter. After PdSn-SnO2 samples were modified by Pt, the particle size distribution and average size of nanoparticles of Pt-PdSn-SnO2 did not obviously change, and the fcc structure of PdSn in all three samples was retained. XPS measurement showed a higher upshift of Pt 4f binding energy occurred for Pt/PdSn-SnO2 /C (HMTA) compared to those of Pt/PdSn-SnO2 /C (EDTA) and Pt/PdSn-SnO2 /C (Nacitrate). Pt/PdSn-SnO2 /C (HMTA) was also found to have the highest CO and ethanol oxidation activity among the three catalysts.Web of Scienc