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Investigation on Electrocatalytic Activity and Stability of Pt/C Catalyst Prepared by Facile Solvothermal Synthesis for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell
Author(s) -
Zhang L. M.,
Wang Z. B.,
Zhang J. J.,
Sui X. L.,
Zhao L.,
Han J. C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
fuel cells
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.485
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1615-6854
pISSN - 1615-6846
DOI - 10.1002/fuce.201400172
Subject(s) - catalysis , methanol , electrochemistry , materials science , direct methanol fuel cell , solvothermal synthesis , transmission electron microscopy , carbon black , chemical engineering , nanoparticle , methanol fuel , nuclear chemistry , inorganic chemistry , nanotechnology , electrode , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , anode , natural rubber , engineering
Pt nanoparticles supported on Vulcan XC‐72 carbon black have been synthesized by a facile solvothermal method. The obtained Pt/C catalysts are characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X‐ray analysis (EDAX), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis to identify Pt mean size and Pt content. The results of electrochemical measurements demonstrate that the Pt/C catalyst prepared at the reaction temperature of 140 °C and the reaction time of 2 h shows the biggest initial electrochemical area with an initial electrochemically active specific surface area (ESA) of 70.6 m 2 g Pt −1 , the highest electrocatalytic stability with an ESA loss of 48.7% after 1,000 CV cycles, and the best electrocatalytic activity and stability toward methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) with a specific activity of 0.6 mA cm −2 and a retention rate (the ratio of the final current density to the maximum current density) after 3,600 s of 42.8%. Moreover, the electrochemical performance of homemade Pt/C catalyst is superior to that of commercial Pt/C catalyst, suggesting that the solvothermal synthesis is a promising method for preparing Pt based catalyst.