Design of Pt catalyst with high electrocatalytic activity and well tolerance to methanol for oxygen reduction in acidic medium

The low-content deposition of Pt on the working electrode during the electrochemical test showed high activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and much low activity for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR), indicating that there exists a difference in the ORR and MOR on the surface of few Pt nanoparticles. Based on this difference, we designed and prepared the Pt/carbon nanotube catalyst with ca. 0.86 wt.% Pt, which exhibited high ORR activity and well tolerance to methanol in acidic media, showing a good potential application for a future acidic direct methanol fuel cell device. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.