The influence of Zn content on the activity of PtZn catalysts in methanol electrooxidation reaction

Abstract

This work highlights a simple and efficient approach for the development of PtZn catalyst materials with tunable content of Zn. Nanoparticles of PtZn deposited on high surface area carbon Vulcan XC-72R material were synthesized by microwave-assisted polyol method, giving control over the size and dispersion of nanoparticles. Cyclic voltammetry and electrooxidation of adsorbed CO were used to investigate the electrochemical behavior of synthesized catalysts: PtZn/C (90:10); PtZn/C (85:15) and PtZn/C (75:25). It was found that PtZn/C catalysts have high electrocatalytic performance in methanol oxidation reactions. In comparison to the corresponding catalyst with the different Zn loading, it was concluded that PtZn (90:10)/C catalyst had better activity compared to PtZn/C (85:15) and PtZn/C (75:25) catalysts. The observed high catalytic activity in the methanol oxidation reaction of synthesized catalysts can be ascribed to the very efficient microwave synthesis and well-balanced content of Zn as alloying metal.

Ovaj rad predstavlja jednostavan i efikasan pristup za razvoj PtZn katalizatora sa različitim sadržajem Zn. Nanočestice PtZn istaložene na ugljeničnom materijalu Vulcan XC-72R velike površine, sintetisane su poliol metodom pomoću mikrotalasne pećnice, dajući kontrolu nad veličinom i disperzijom nanočestica. Za ispitivanje elektrohemijskog ponašanja sintetisanih katalizatora PtZn/C (90:10); PtZn/C (85:15) i PtZn/C (75:25) korišćeni su ciklična voltametrija i elektrooksidacija adsorbovanog CO. Utvrđeno je da PtZn/C katalizatori imaju visoke elektrokatalitičke performanse u reakcijama oksidacije metanola. Poređenjem katalizatora sa različitim sadržajem Zn, zaključeno je da PtZn/C (90:10) katalizator ima bolju aktivnost u odnosu na PtZn (85:15) i PtZn (75:25) katalizatore. Uočena visoka katalitička aktivnost sintetisanih katalizatora u reakciji oksidacije metanola može se pripisati veoma efikasnoj mikrotalasnoj sintezi i dobro izbalansiranom dodavanju Zn kao legirajućeg metala sa različitim sadržajem u PtZn/C katalizatorima.