Enhanced stability and activity of PtRu nanotubes for methanol electrooxidation

PtRu 1D nanostructures on titanium are prepared and analysed as electrocatalysts for methanol electro-oxidation. The morphology and composition of the 1D nanostructure are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The electrocatalytic properties of such catalysts for methanol oxidation are investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA) in 1.0 M CH3OH + 0.5 M H2SO4 aqueous solution. The results show that Pt46Ru54 nanotubes yields to a five-fold improvement of the mass specific activity and to a three-fold improvement of the long-term poisoning rate as compared to PtRu black of similar composition. Crown Copyright (c) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.