Evaluation of Ni and Ti Addition in PtSn/C Catalysts for Ethanol and Glycerol Electrooxidation

Abstract

Electrocatalysts of type PtSnNiTi/C were prepared by thermal decomposition of polymeric precursors. The physico-chemical and electrochemical characterization of the electrocatalysts was performed by different techniques: X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The XRD results showed that the electrocatalysts comprise mainly Pt metal with face-centered cubic crystal structure. The electrocatalysts were evaluated in the absence and presence of ethanol and glycerol in sulfuric acid medium. All showed activity toward alcohols oxidation. Furthermore, the Pt50Sn20Ni25Ti5/C electrocatalyst showed the best results of cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry in presence of glycerol and ethanol, respectively. Cyclic voltammetry data obtained in this study indicate that the addition of Ni and Ti in PtSn electrocatalysts increases its electrocatalytic activity toward alcohols oxidation. For alcohol (ethanol and glycerol) electrooxidation, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was carried out after electrolysis, for determination of the products generated from alcohol consumption. The main product found after electrolysis was acetaldehyde.

Electrochemical and Morphological Investigations of Ga Addition to Pt Electrocatalyst Supported on Carbon

“…PtGa/C electrocatalysts supported on Vulcan carbon XC-72 were prepared through thermal decomposition of polymeric precursors method [15, 17, 27–29]. This method consists on the synthesis of resins from metal precursors (metal salt) and citric acid (Merck) in a mixture with ethylene glycol (Merck), at a molar ratio of 1 : 4 : 16, respectively.…”