An effective electrocatalyst for ethanol oxidation: Pt-modified IrCu alloy nanoparticle

There is a growing interest in ethanol oxidation electrochemistry as it plays an important role in renewable energy technologies. The goal of this work was to develop active multifunctional catalyst materials for ethanol oxidation. Here, a carbon-supported Pt-modified IrCu alloy electrocatalyst (Pt-IrCu/C) was prepared by a two-step method. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope showed that the Pt-IrCu/C has a two-phase structure: Pt nanoparticle-modified IrCu alloy. The Pt-IrCu/C catalyst was found to have not only a large electrochemically active specific area (SEAS) but also good CO oxidation ability for oxidation of ethanol compared to the commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst using cyclic voltammetry. Furthermore, the Pt current density of Pt-IrCu/C was more than 1.6 times as high as that of Pt/C for ethanol oxidation. The Pt-IrCu/C catalyst also exhibited more efficient usage of Pt and enhanced the stability of ethanol electro-oxidation compared with a Pt/C catalyst.