title: Facile synthesis of a platinum-lead oxide nanocomposite catalyst with high activity and durability for ethanol electrooxidation.
abstract: Aimed at searching for highly active and stable nano-scale Pt-based catalysts that can improve significantly the energy conversion efficiency of direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs), a novel Pt-PbO(x) nanocomposite (Pt-PbO(x) NC) catalyst with a mean size of 3.23 nm was synthesized through a simple wet chemistry method without using a surfactant, organometallic precursors and high temperature. Electrocatalytic tests demonstrated that the as-prepared Pt-PbO(x) NC catalyst possesses a much higher catalytic activity and a longer durability than Pt nanoparticles (nm-Pt) and commercial Pt black catalysts for ethanol electrooxidation. For instance, Pt-PbO(x) NC showed an onset potential that was 30 mV and 44 mV less positive, together with a peak current density 1.7 and 2.6 times higher than those observed for nm-Pt and Pt black catalysts in the cyclic voltammogram tests. The ratio of current densities per unit Pt mass on Pt-PbO(x) NC, nm-Pt and Pt black catalysts is 27.3 : 3.4 : 1 for the long-term (2 hours) chronoamperometric experiments measured at -0.4 V (vs. SCE). In situ FTIR spectroscopic studies revealed that the activity of breaking C-C bonds of ethanol of the Pt-PbO(x) NC is as high as 5.17 times that of the nm-Pt, which illustrates a high efficiency of ethanol oxidation to CO(2) on the as-prepared Pt-PbO(x) NC catalyst.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
authors.forename: Wei-Hua
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hong-Hui
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: De-Hao
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhi-You
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Shi-Gang
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Sun