PtSnCo/C nanoparticle catalysts for ethanol electro-oxidation reaction in an acidic medium

Thesis

Binary PtSn/C and ternary PtSnCo/C catalysts with the nominal Pt:Sn and Pt:Sn:Co atomic ratios of 3:1, 3:1:1, 3:1:2, 3:1:3, and 3:1:4 were synthesised by the modified sodium borohydride reduction method. All the as-synthesised catalysts were characterized by a number of analytical techniques including EDS, ICP-MS, TGA, XRD, TEM, BF-STEM, XPS, and XAS. The electrocatalytic activity towards alcohol electro-oxidation was measured using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA). Prior to each CV measurement for an activity test, a catalyst-modified glassy carbon electrode was potential cycled in 0.5M H2SO4 supporting electrolyte between -0.2 V and 1.0 V (vs. SCE) for 20 cycles to obtain a stable catalyst surface. The results from electrocatalytic activity tests showed that the electrochemically treated PtSnCo/C catalysts of all atomic ratios exhibited higher ethanol electro-oxidation activity than the PtSn/C (3:1) catalyst synthesised by the same preparation method. Moreover, they exhibited higher electro-oxidation activity for ethylene glycol (EG), 2-propanol (2P), and methanol (MeOH) compared to PtSn/C (3:1). These results can lead to the conclusions that carbon supported ternary PtSnCo nanoparticle catalysts would be a candidate for application in direct alcohol fuel cells as anode electrocatalysts.

Authors: Pengsawang, A

• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford