<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language: HI" lang="EN-GB">Preparation of Pt/CeO₂-ZrO₂/carbon nanotubes hybrid catalysts for methanol electrooxidation</span>

Abstract

Pt/CeO₂-ZrO₂/multi-walled carbon nanotubes composites have been synthesized for the application of catalyst in direct methanol fuel cells. The introduction of CeO₂-ZrO₂, which has high surface area and oxygen storage capacity, can eliminate the toxic gases at low temperature. Electrocatalytic activity and stability of Pt/CeO₂-ZrO₂/MWCNT catalysts for methanol oxidation have been investigated with cyclic voltammetric and chronoamperometric techniques. Electrochemical measurements demonstrate that the Pt/CeO₂-ZrO₂/MWCNT catalysts exhibit superior electrocatalytic activities as compared with Pt/CeO₂/MWCNT and Pt/MWCNT catalysts. The peak current density of Pt/CeO₂-ZrO₂/MWCNT catalysts for methanol electrooxidation is 3.9 times as high as that of Pt/MWCNT catalysts. The outstanding performance is likely to be due to the co-catalytic effect of CeO₂-ZrO₂ and the deposition manner of Pt nanoparticles.