Carbon-nanosphere-supported Pt nanoparticles for methanol and ethanol electro-oxidation in alkaline media

The Pt catalyst supported on the newly synthesized carbon nanospheres exhibits a much higher catalytic activity for methanol and ethanol electrooxidationin alkaline media than that of the Pt catalyst supported on the commercially available carbon black or on the hydrothermal synthetic carbon nanosph...

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Published in:Journal of power sources 2011-02, Vol.196 (4), p.1904-1908
Main Authors: Wang, Xue, Hu, Chenguo, Xiong, Yufeng, Liu, Hong, Du, Guojun, He, Xiaoshan
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The Pt catalyst supported on the newly synthesized carbon nanospheres exhibits a much higher catalytic activity for methanol and ethanol electrooxidationin alkaline media than that of the Pt catalyst supported on the commercially available carbon black or on the hydrothermal synthetic carbon nanospheres. Carbon nanospheres with diameters ∼200 nm have been synthesized from glucose at 200 °C and normal atmosphere by a novel composite-molten-salt (CMS) method. Pt nanoparticles supported on those carbon nanospheres are used for methanol and ethanol electro-oxidation in alkaline media. Experimental results demonstrate that, in comparison with the carbon black or hydrothermally-synthesized carbon nanosphere support, CMS carbon-nanosphere-supported Pt electrocatalyst shows an enhanced efficiency for both methanol and ethanol electro-oxidation in terms of electrode conductivity, electrochemically active surface, oxidation peak current density and onset potential. This enhancement is considered to be not only due to the high carbonization of the CMS synthesized carbon nanospheres, but also due to the formation of a porous structure by the carbon nanospheres which significantly reduces the liquid sealing effect allowing efficient gas diffusion.
ISSN:0378-7753
1873-2755
DOI:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2010.09.072