Research on UO2 modification of a direct ethanol fuel cell Pt/C catalyst

Radioactive UO2 powder was prepared by hydrothermal method and a set of Pt-xUO(2)/C catalysts were synthesized by impregnation method for solving the problem of low activity and easy poisoning of anode Pt/C catalysts for a direct ethanol fuel cell. XRD, TEM, EDS, XPS and ICP-MS characterization showed the successful loading of Pt and UO2 onto the carbon carrier. Electrochemical workstation and single cell test results confirm that the catalytic performance of Pt-10% UO2/C is significantly better than Pt/C-eg. It is speculated that the synergistic effect of Pt and U enhances the catalytic activity and UO2 improves the resistance to CO poisoning by releasing O-2 stored in the lattice space, while the alpha-particles released by U-235 can also generate radiolysis product OH and promote the oxidative desorption of CO from the Pt surface.

Automated summary

Radioactive UO2 powder was prepared by hydrothermal method and a set of Pt-xUO(2)/C catalysts were synthesized by impregnation method to improve the low activity and easy poisoning of anode Pt/C catalysts in a direct ethanol fuel cell. The electrochemical and single cell test results confirmed that the catalytic performance of Pt-10% UO2/C was significantly better than Pt/C. It is speculated that the synergistic effect of Pt and U enhances the catalytic activity, while UO2 improves the resistance to CO poisoning.