Abstract

RIBADENEIRA, R. E.  and  HOYOS, B. A.. Co-catalytic effect of nickel in Pt-Ru/C and Pt-Sn/C electrocatalysts for ethanol electrooxidation. Lat. Am. appl. res. [online]. 2010, vol.40, n.2, pp.113-118. ISSN 1851-8796.

In the present study, we examined the effect of adding nickel to Pt-Ru and Pt-Sn catalysts for ethanol electrooxidation. The alcohol-reduction process with ethylene glycol was used to prepare ten electrocatalysts. These were microchemically and physically characterized by EDX and XRD analysis. The electrocatalysts were evaluated at mini-electrodes with cyclic voltammetry at 25 and 50 °C in sulfuric acid and ethanol solutions, and as anodes in fuel cell tests. Nickel addition to Pt-Ru mixtures significantly increased the catalytic activity toward ethanol electrooxidation. For Pt-Ru-Ni catalysts, the current density was around five times greater than all other investigated mixtures. Nickel also duplicated the catalytic activity of the Pt-Sn catalyst. Furthermore ethanol electrooxidation increased with temperature for most catalytic mixtures, and the electrocatalytic activity of mixtures containing nickel, demonstrate a considerable increase with temperature. Pt-Ru-Ni catalytic activity was higher than that of all other investigated mixtures. The fuel cell test demonstrated that the addition of nickel to Pt-Ru and Pt-Sn catalysts enhances the performance of the DEFC.

Keywords : Ethanol; Electrooxidation; PtRuNi; PtSnNi; Fuel Cell.

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