Facile Fabrication of Platinum-Cobalt Alloy Nanoparticles with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity for a Methanol Oxidation Reaction

Abstract

Decreasing the cost associated with platinum-based catalysts along with improving their catalytic properties is a major challenge for commercial direct methanol fuel cells. In this work, a simple and facile strategy was developed for the more efficient preparation of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) -supported Pt/CoPt composite nanoparticles (NPs) via solution plasma sputtering with subsequent thermal annealing. Quite different from general wet synthesis methods, Pt/CoPt composite NPs were directly derived from metal wire electrodes without any additions. The obtained Pt/CoPt/MWCNTs composite catalysts exhibited tremendous improvement in the electro-oxidation of methanol in acidic media with mass activities of 1719 mA mg−1Pt. This value is much higher than that of previous reports of Pt-Co alloy and commercial Pt/C (3.16 times) because of the many active sites and clean surface of the catalysts. The catalysts showed good stability due to the special synergistic effects of the CoPt alloy. Pt/CoPt/MWCNTs can be used as a promising catalyst for direct methanol fuel cells. In addition, this solution plasma sputtering-assisted synthesis method introduces a general and feasible route for the synthesis of binary alloys.

Chromium-Ruthenium Oxides Supported on Gamma-Alumina as an Alternative Catalyst for Partial Combustion of Methane

“…With the 5Pt/Al 2 O 3 catalyst, many small dark spots could be seen in the images, corresponding to the Pt particles. The average Pt particle size was approximately 2.5 nm with a lattice spacing of 0.22 nm, which agreed with the (1 1 1) interplanar spacing of Pt [36]. High-resolution TEM images of fresh 5Pt/Al2O3, 5Ru/Al2O3, and 2Cr3Ru/Al2O3 catalysts are shown in Figure 6.…”

Bi‐Co‐Cu Metal Oxide Foam as Significant Electrocatalyst for Methanol Electrooxidation

“…Despite its catalytic activity, the Pt surface gets easily poisoned by adsorbed CO or HCO intermediates leading to the rapid loss of the catalytic activity. This actually blocks the active sites of Pt, which is genuine set back while employing Pt‐based electrocatalyst . The abundant cost effectiveness and easy production of non‐precious metals could play a vital role in various energy applications.…”

Laser-Assisted Production of Carbon-Encapsulated Pt-Co Alloy Nanoparticles for Preferential Oxidation of Carbon Monoxide

“…Pt x Co y alloy is one of the most widely studied bimetallic systems because of its stability and broad catalytic scope (Service, 2002 ; Stamenkovic et al, 2007 ; Huang et al, 2017 ). One of the reactions in which these multimetallic alloys may offer greater benefits than conventional Pt catalysts is the preferential oxidation (PROX) of carbon monoxide (CO; Liu et al, 2012 ), a case of substrate-selective oxidation of CO in excess of hydrogen (H 2 ).…”