Pt–ZrO2/C composite was synthesized by chemical reduction process. ZrO2 precursor was obtained by sol-gel at room temperature. The synthesis allowed the formation of Pt-ZrO2/C nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The electrochemical experiments were carried out for investigating the electro-catalytic properties of the synthesized composite to promote the cathodic reaction in direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFC). The results indicated that Pt-ZrO2/C showed more tolerance than Pt/C based electrocatalyst to the presence of methanol or ethanol (due to alcohol crossover) during the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in direct alcohol fuel cells. The experimental results indicated that the ORR on Pt-ZrO2/C composite was predominant by the four electron transfer mechanism and first order reaction. The Pt-ZrO2/C based electrocatalyst showed adequate performance to carry out the ORR in experimental direct alcohol fuel cells operating at room temperature. The results revealed that Pt-ZrO2/C composite could be considered as a suitable candidate for reducing oxygen on the cathode of experimental DAFCs.
Design of ternary Pt-CoZn alloy catalysts coated with N-doped carbon towards acidic oxygen reduction
