Pt Electrocatalysts Supported on Functionalized Carbonaceous Materials

VEIZAGA, N.; RODRIGUEZ, V. ; DE MIGUEL, S.

JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY

ELECTROCHEMICAL SOC INC

Año: 2016

0013-4651

Monometallic Pt catalysts (17%wt) were prepared over Vulcan carbon (VC) and multiwall carbon nanotubes (NT). These supportswere functionalized with citric or nitric acid. The characteristics of the different functionalized and non-functionalized supports wereanalyzed to determine the influence of the functional groups over the electrocatalytic behavior of the Pt monometallic catalyst. Thefunctionalization treatment with nitric acid increases the concentration of strong and weak functional groups, whereas citric acidpromotes the formation of acid groups with intermediate acidic strength. Catalysts prepared by conventional impregnation (CI) andsupported on functionalized VC and NT display much higher electrochemical active areas than those supported on the correspondingnon-functionalized carbons. Both the decrease of the metallic particle sizes and the changes in the metal-support interaction due tothe presence of the functional groups would lead to a better electrochemical behavior.