Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. ›› 2013, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (02): 287-292.doi: 10.3866/PKU.WHXB201211261

• ELECTROCHEMISTRY AND NEW ENERGY • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Nano-WO3 Modified Carbon Nanotube Supported Pt and Their Electrocatalytic Activity for Methanol Electro-Oxidation

ZHOU Yang1,2, CHU You-Qun1, LIU Wei-Ming1, MA Chun-An1   

  1. 1 State Key Laboratory Breeding Base for Green Chemistry Synthesis Technology, International Science&Technology Cooperation Base of Energy Materials and Application, College Of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, P. R. China;
    2 Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering Institute. Ganzhou 341000, Jiangxi Province, P. R. China
  • Received:2012-08-02 Revised:2012-11-23 Published:2013-01-14
  • Supported by:

    The project was supported by the International Science and Technology Cooperation Program of China (2010DFB63680), Research Project of Ministry of Education of Zhejiang Province, China (Y201225711), and Key Project of National Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province, China (Z4100790).

Abstract:

Nano-WO3-modified carbon nanotube supported Pt nanoparticles (Pt-WO3/CNT) with uniform dimensions were prepared by adsorption and decomposition of ammonium meta-tungstate (AMT) on the surface of CNTs pretreated with HNO3, and H2PtCl6 as the Pt precursor. The samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The Pt nanoparticles had a face-centered cubic crystal structure, and were well dispersed on the external walls and ports of the WO3/ CNTs. The electrocatalytic activity of the samples towards the oxidation of methanol was investigated using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The results indicated that the Pt-WO3/CNT catalysts exhibited higher electrocatalytic activity, better anti-poisoning ability, and good stability during methanol oxidation compared with Pt/CNTs used for acid oxidation treatments.

Key words: Direct methanol fuel cell, Carbon nanotube, Tungsten trioxide, Electro-catalysis