Investigation of ternary catalysts as anode catalysts for direct methanol fuel cell

Abstract

This chapter reports on various catalyst synthesis methods (impregnation, polyol, modified polyol and microwave-assisted modified polyol methods) to determine which method would result in the most electrochemically active platinum–ruthenium (PtRu) electrocatalyst supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) for methanol oxidation reaction in an acidic medium. Different techniques were used to characterise the synthesised catalysts, including the high-resolution transmission electron microscope used for morphology and calculating particle sizes, and X-ray diffraction for determining crystalline sizes while Energy dispersive analysis Spectroscopy, EDS was used to determine elemental compositions. The electroactive catalyst surface area, ECSA of the electrocatalysts was determined using cyclic voltammetry (CV), while the electroactivity, electron kinetics and stability of the electrocatalysts towards methanol oxidation were evaluated using CV, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and chronoamperometry, respectively. The microwave-assisted modified polyol method produced the PtRu/MWCNT electrocatalyst with the most enhanced electrocatalytic activity compared to other PtRu/MWCNT catalysts produced by the impregnation, polyol and modified polyol methods.