Preparation of Pt nanoparticles on different carbonaceous structure and their applications to methanol electro-oxidation

The efficiency of the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is related to the dispersion of the metal catalyst on the support as electrode. It is important for the support to possess a high surface area, uniform pore size, and good conductivity properties. Graphene oxide (GO) is a newly developed 2-dimension material containing those excellent properties. The physical properties and structural information of the Pt/GO catalysts were further characterized by XRD, TEM, and XPS techniques. The TEM and XRD have revealed that the Pt/GO electrode catalyst prepared by polyol process possess a uniform dispersion and particle size within the range of 2–3 nm. The electrocatalytic properties of Pt/GO composites and kinetic characterization for methanol electro-oxidation were investigated by cyclic voltammetry. In addition, the Pt/GO shows better tolerance to CO for methanol electro-oxidation compared to the Pt/CNT catalyst. The results suggest that the Pt/GO catalyst as electrode has a good potential for application in DMFC.