Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. ›› 2014, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (5): 973-979.doi: 10.3866/PKU.WHXB201403071

• CATALYSIS AND SURFACE SCIENCE • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of pH on the Properties of Mo-Modified Pt/C Synthesized by Microwave-Assisted Method as Catalyst for Electro-Oxidation of Ethanol

MA Zhong, YUAN Xian-Xia, XIA Xiao-Yun, DU Juan, LI Lin, MA Zi-Feng   

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, P. R. China
  • Received:2013-12-30 Revised:2014-03-04 Published:2014-04-25
  • Contact: YUAN Xian-Xia E-mail:yuanxx519@163.com
  • Supported by:

    The project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21176155).

Abstract:

A series of Mo-modified Pt/C catalysts were synthesized, using a microwave-assisted technique, and the effects of pH value on the electrocatalytic performance of the resulted catalysts for ethanol oxidation were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to characterize the crystal structures, morphologies, particle sizes and the distributions, and electronic states of the catalysts. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to investigate the catalytic performances. The results revealed that alkaline environments are beneficial in the syntheses of catalysts with small and uniformly dispersed particles on the carbon support. The catalyst prepared at pH 14 exhibited the smallest catalyst particles, highest electrochemical surface area, best electrocatalytic activity, and durability for ethanol oxidation.

Key words: Electro-oxidation of ethanol, Molybdenum modified Pt/C catalyst, Microwave assisted synthesis, pH value