Highly Stable and Methanol Tolerant RuTe_2/C Electrocatalysts in Alkaline Media

摘要

The carbon supported ruthenium tellurium (RuTe_2/C) nanoparticles were prepared through a simple microwave polyol method and heat treatment at 350 °C. Effects of Ru/Te molar ratio on the crystal structure, surface morphology, microstructure, electro-catalytic activity and stability, as well as methanol tolerance in an alkaline solution, were systematically investigated. The orthorhombic RuTe_2 and hexagonal Ru were identified as the main phases. The catalyst nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed on the carbon support and the average particle size ranged 5.0～8.6 nm. The RuTe_2/C catalyst prepared with Ru/Te=1:1 exhibited the best activity toward oxygen reduction reaction. The half-wave potential (E_(1/2)) of 0.74 V with the electron transfer number of 3.7 was achieved in 0.1 mol·L~(-1) KOH solution. The E_(1/2) values decreased by 7 mV after 1000 potential cycles test in 0.1 mol·L~(-1) KOH, while remained unchanged in 0.1 mol·L~(-1) KOH containing 2 mol·L~(-1) methanol solutions, suggesting the excellent stability and methanol tolerance.