Synthesis and Characterization of Carbon Supported Nano-Structured Pt-Ni Catalyst for Alcohol Fuel Cell

摘要

A series of Pt-Ni bimetallic nanoparticles supported on carbon with various Pt:Ni molar ratios (PtxNiy/C) have been synthesized by the polyol reduction under ultrasonic irradiation. The reducing reagent was ethylene glycol (EG) and support materials were carbon Vulcan XC-72R and carbon nanotube (CNT). The morphology, structure and specific area of synthesized materials were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption (BET). The electrocatalytic activity for alcohol oxidation of synthesized PtxNiy/C materials and the commercial 10wt.% Pt/C catalyst (Aldrich Sigma, Pt/C_com) was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA). The major size of synthesized metallic particles was around 2 nm. The Pt2Ni1/C exhibited excellent catalytic properties for alcohol oxidation compared to other catalysts on the same support. The CNT was found to be more effective than carbon Vulcan for use as a support for alcohol oxidation catalysts.