ELECTROCATALYTIC PROPERTIES OF NANOSTRUCTURED MULTIMETALLIC Pt-Sn-Cs/C AND Pt-M/C (M=Ag, Ca, Cd, Cs, Cu, Fe, Ir, Mg, Pd, Sn, Zr) DIRECT ETHANOL FUEL CELL CATALYSTS

Carbon supported Pt and Pt-M (M=Ag, Ca, Cd, Cs, Cu, Fe, Ir, Mg, Pd, Sn, Zr) bimetallic nanocatalysts (10% Pt loading) and Pt-Sn-Cs trimetallic nanocatalysts were prepared by ethylene glycol (EG) reduction method. The ethanol electrooxidation (EOR) performance of these catalysts were studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. Considering Pt-M bimetallic nanocatalysts, carbon supported Pt-Sn bimetallic nanocatalyst showed the best EOR activity as a result of these CV, CA, EIS measurements. Furthermore, Cs promoted Pt bimetallic nanocatalyst also improved the activity of reverse current, attributed to the basic character of Cs. Pt-Sn nanocatalyst was promoted by Cs to neutralize the surface acid sites of the Pt-Sn nanocatalyst. Pt-Sn-Cs/C nanocatalyst showed the superior activity compared to Pt-Sn nanocatalysts. Hence, we further performed EIS measurements on Pt-Sn-Cs, Pt-Sn, Pt-Cs nanocatalysts to compare their electrocatalytic activities.