Electro-oxidation of methanol at the different carbon materials supported Pt nano-particles

Single-wall carbon nano-tubes (SWNTs), multi-wall carbon nano-tubes (MWNTs) and Vulcan XC-72 carbon (XC-72) are used as supporting carbon materials to prepare Pt/XC-72, Pt/SWNTs and Pt/MWNTs catalysts in tetrahydrofuran/water/ethanol mixture solution. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements demonstrate that the type of supporting carbon material affects significantly the morphology and the electronic structure of supported Pt nano-particles (NPs). Electrochemical measurements indicate that the Pt/SWNTs catalyst exhibited the highest current density, the lowest onset oxidation potential and the best stability for methanol electro-oxidation among the three samples, indicating SWNTs are an ideal anode catalyst supporting material for the practical application of direct methanol fuel cells. (C) 2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.