Acid-treated PtSn/C and PtSnCu/C electrocatalysts for ethanol electro-oxidation

PtSn/C with Pt:Sn atomic ratio of 50:50 and PtSnCu/C electrocatalysts with different Pt:Sn:Cu atomic ratios were prepared using NaBH4 as reducing agent and carbon black Vulcan XC72 as support. In a second step, the electrocatalysts were treated with nitric acid to remove the less noble metals (chemi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of hydrogen energy 2014-04, Vol.39 (11), p.5671-5677
Main Authors: Crisafulli, R., Antoniassi, R.M., Oliveira Neto, A., Spinacé, E.V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acid treatment
Alloys
Alternative fuels. Production and utilization
Applied sciences
Chemical dealloying
Diffraction
Direct ethanol fuel cell
Electrocatalysts
Energy
Ethanol
Ethyl alcohol
Exact sciences and technology
Fuels
Hydrogen
Noble metals
Platinum base alloys
PtSn/C
PtSnCu/C
X-rays
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Summary:PtSn/C with Pt:Sn atomic ratio of 50:50 and PtSnCu/C electrocatalysts with different Pt:Sn:Cu atomic ratios were prepared using NaBH4 as reducing agent and carbon black Vulcan XC72 as support. In a second step, the electrocatalysts were treated with nitric acid to remove the less noble metals (chemical dealloying). The obtained materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, EDX analysis, TEM images with EDX scan-line and cyclic voltammetry. The electro-oxidation of ethanol was studied by chronoamperometry and on single direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC). The X-ray diffractograms of the as-synthesized electrocatalysts showed the typical face-centered cubic (FCC) structure of Pt alloys. After acid treatment the FCC structure was maintained and Sn and Cu atoms were removed from the nanoparticles surface. Chronoamperometry measurements showed a strong increase of performance of PtSn/C and PtSnCu/C electrocatalysts after acid treatment; however, under DEFC conditions at 100 °C, only acid-treated PtSn/C electrocatalyst showed superior performance compared to commercial PtSn/C from BASF. •PtSn/C and PtSnCu/C electrocatalysts were treated with nitric acid (chemical dealloying).•After dealloying the FCC structure of PtSn and PtSnCu nanoparticles was maintained.•Cu and Sn were removed from nanoparticles surface.•Chronoamperometry showed an increase of performance for the acid-treated materials.•Under DEFC conditions only PtSn/C showed superior performance than commercial catalyst.
ISSN:0360-3199
1879-3487
DOI:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2014.01.111