Electro-catalytic activity of enhanced CO tolerant cerium-promoted Pt/C catalyst for PEM fuel cell anode

摘要

Cerium-promoted Pt/C catalysts were prepared by one-pot synthesis process and applied as an anode material for CO tolerance in PEM fuel cell. Its physical properties were char-acterized by XRD and TEM techniques, which indicated that Pt nano-particles are highly dispersed on the carbon supports. The investigation focused on examining the CO toler-ance in sulfur acid solution of Pt-CeO_2 compared to Pt/C (JM). The hydrogen oxidation activity was strongly depended on the content of the cerium in the Pt catalyst which was detected by CV, LSV, CO-stripping and EIS techniques. Effect of the anode catalyst poisoning on hydrogen oxidation in the presence of CO was studied in single cells. Pt-CeO_2/C catalyst at the appropriate content of 20% Ce presented a very higher CO tolerant activity. A tentative mechanism is proposed for a possible role of a bi-functional synergistic effect between Pt and CeO_2 for the enhanced electro-oxidation of CO. CeO_2-promoted Pt/C catalyst may be one of the attractive candidates as CO tolerance anode material in PEMFC.