Development of PtNi/C and PtSnNi/C Nanocatalysts for Energy Convertion from Ethanol Electrooxidation

Abstract

Literature describes the importance in studying morphological and structural electrocatalysts features since they influence catalytic activity toward ethanol electrooxidation. Thus, this work consists in studying the relation between structural/composition features and catalytic activity toward ethanol electrooxidation from Pt, PtSn, PtNi and PtSnNi alloys nanoparticles supported on Vulcan Carbon XC72R. These nanoparticles were obtained by the impregnation reduction method at 130 ºC, employing a mixture of water/ethylene glycol (75/25 v/v) with different amounts of Pt, Sn and Ni. The nanostructured catalysts obtained were characterized by Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), High Resolution Transmission Electronic Microscopy (HRTEM) and Cyclic Voltammetry (CV). Preliminary results showed that the impregnation reduction is a reasonable method to obtain Pt-based nanoparticles with a composition control. XRD analysis showed that tin and nickel addition promoted a crystal lattice dilation and contraction, respectively. Besides, the simultaneous addition of Sn and Ni to Pt did not significantly affect the reticular lattice value. Moreover, crystallite size is diminished with Ni or Ni and Sn addition. PtSn, PtNi and PtSnNi/C nanoparticles have higher catalytic activity than Pt/C toward ethanol electrooxidation, which was verified by a significant current density values increase and an onset potential decrease. The best catalytic activity was observed to PtNi/C electrocatalyst.