Facile Synthesis of Nitrogen Doped Porous Carbon Supported Platinum Catalyst and Improvement of Electrocatalytic Ethanol Performance

Abstract

Direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) have become an alternative to traditional fossil fuels because of their low emissions, fast start-up and high energy density. Platinum (Pt)-based catalysts are the most effective catalysts for DEFCs, but their high cost and poor electrocatalytic performance hinder their practical application. Therefore, there is an urgent need to design Pt-based catalysts with low platinum content, high electrochemical activity and stability. Herein, nitrogen-doped porous carbon-loaded Pt catalysts (Pt@Co-CN) were prepared by in situ polymerization and high-temperature calcination using the metal-organic framework materials (MOFs) ZIF-8@ZIF-67 as the carriers. The effects of the addition of pyrrole monomer on the morphology and electrocatalytic properties of the samples were investigated. The sample with the complete coating layer and uniformly dispersed Pt nanoparticles (Pt@Co-CN) could be obtained by adding an appropriate amount of pyrrole monomer. The results of the electrochemical tests showed that the electrochemical activity of Pt@Co-CN catalytic ethanol is superior to that of commercial catalysts and samples with insufficient or excessive addition of pyrrole monomers. The content of this study provides a new method for the electrocatalyst of DEFCs.