Alternative Aqueous Phase Synthesis of a PtRu/C Electrocatalyst for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

Carbon-supported PtRu nanoalloy (PtRu/C) is widely used as the anode catalyst for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC), and an aqueous phase synthesis of PtRu/C is in high demand due to for energy-saving and environmentally-benign considerations, however, it is very challenging to attain stoichiometric reduction, good dispersion and a high alloying degree. Herein, we report a facile aqueous phase approach with dimethylamine borane (DMAB) as the reducing agent to synthesize a PtRu/C(DMAB). TEM, XRD, XPS and ICP-AES characterizations indicate that the structural parameters in the PtRu/C(DMAB) are improved significantly as compared to those obtained in a PtRu/C(NaBH4) and a commercial PtRu/C, contributing to an enhanced electrocatalytic performance. It turns out that the PtRu/C(DMAB) exhibits the highest methanol electro-oxidation (MOR) performance among all of the tested samples, with the peak current up to 1.8 times as much as that of the state-of-the-art commercial PtRu/C, corroborating the highest output power density in comparative DMFC tests. In-situ attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy correlates the higher methanol electro-oxidation performance of the PtRu/C(DMAB) with its enhanced CO resistance and CO2 generation. This simple aqueous synthetic approach may provide an alternative route for developing efficient anode electrocatalysts of DMFCs.

Automated summary

This study reports a facile aqueous phase approach using DMAB to synthesize PtRu/C nanoalloy, with significantly improved structural parameters and enhanced electrocatalytic performance. The PtRu/C(DMAB) shows the highest methanol electro-oxidation performance among all tested samples, making it a promising alternative for efficient anode electrocatalysts in DMFCs.