PtPdNi Catalysts Supported on Porous Carbon for Ethanol Electro-oxidation

CASTAGNA, RODRIGO M.; DUARTE, MARTA M. E; BARRERA, DEICY; ALVAREZ, ANDREA E.; ARROYO-GÓMEZ, JOSÉ J.; SIEBEN, JUAN MANUEL; SAPAG, KARIM

CHEMCATCHEM

WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH

Año: 2019 vol. 11 p. 3451 - 3464

1867-3880

In this work, we prepared four electrocatalysts based on trimetallic PtPdNi nanoparticles on different carbon supports, i. e., i) two activated carbons produced from biomass, ii) micro-mesoporous carbon synthesized by the nanocasting method, and iii) commercial carbon black. The electrocatalytic activity of the prepared materials was tested in the electro-oxidation of ethanol in alkaline medium. Well-distributed nanoparticles with sizes in the range of 3.5?5.2 nm were obtained through galvanic replacement. The bulk Pt, Pd and Ni contents were about 65, 25 and 15 at. %, measured by EDX and ICP-AES. By XPS the surface Pt : Pd atomic ratios were in the range of 1.82?2.2. Electrochemical experiments showed that the trimetallic nanoparticles deposited over micro-mesoporous carbon material exhibit the highest electrochemical activity towards ethanol electro-oxidation in alkaline medium. Results showed that both synthetic carbon and biomass-derived carbon are suitable materials to support electrocatalysts in low-temperature fuel cells.