Highly stable Pt/ITO catalyst as a promising electrocatalyst for direct methanol fuel cells

摘要

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) have attracted considerable scientific interest because of their ease of operation and implementation; however, poor electrocatalytic activity and durability are the main hindrances for their commercial feasibility. Moreover, the deactivation of active Pt sites, due to the coverage of CO-like species during the electrochemical oxidation reaction, significantly degrades the electrochemical surface area (ECSA). In the present work, stable Pt-supported tin-modified indium oxide (ITO) was synthesized as a promising electrocatalyst towards the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) in DMFCs. It was found that 20?wt% Pt/ITO yielded much higher current density (～0.71?mA/cm2) than the state-of-the-art carbon-supported Pt (E-TEK) electrocatalyst. Furthermore, theIf/Ibratio, which featured the CO tolerance of the electrocatalyst, of 20?wt% Pt/ITO was found to be ～1.42, which is ～1.5-fold higher than that of 20?wt% Pt/C (E-TEK). Chronoamperometry results indicated that 20?wt% Pt/ITO manifested much higher stability than 20?wt% Pt/C (E-TEK).