Effect of Ni Core Structure on the Electrocatalytic Activity of Pt-Ni/C in Methanol Oxidation

Materials

Jian Kang¹  Rongfang Wang¹  Hui Wang¹  Shijun Liao³  Julian Key²  Vladimir Linkov² 

[1]Key Laboratory of Eco-Environment-Related Polymer Materials, Ministry of Education of China, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China

[2] E-Mails:

[3]South African Institute for Advanced Materials Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7535, South Africa

[4] E-Mails:

[5]Key Laboratory of Fuel Cell Technology of Guangdong Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangdong, Guangzhou 510640, China

[6] E-Mail:

关键词: electrocatalysts;    amorphous;    core-shell structure;    fuel cell;    methanol oxidation;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ma6072689

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Methanol oxidation catalysts comprising an outer Pt-shell with an inner Ni-core supported on carbon, (Pt-Ni/C), were prepared with either crystalline or amorphous Ni core structures. Structural comparisons of the two forms of catalyst were made using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and methanol oxidation activity compared using CV and chronoamperometry (CA). While both the amorphous Ni core and crystalline Ni core structures were covered by similar Pt shell thickness and structure, the Pt-Ni(amorphous)/C catalyst had higher methanol oxidation activity. The amorphous Ni core thus offers improved Pt usage efficiency in direct methanol fuel cells.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.