Mesoporous CeO2–C hybrid spheres as efficient support for platinum nanoparticles towards methanol electrocatalytic oxidation

Abstract

The development of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) is partially limited by the poor kinetics of methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) at the anode side. It was reported that the interaction between Pt and CeO2 enhances the electrocatalytic performance of Pt catalyst for MOR. In this work, a hybrid material (CeO2–C) composed of CeO2 and carbon was successfully prepared by a simple hydrothermal method followed by calcination in inert atmosphere. The hierarchically porous nanostructure and especially good electronic conductivity of CeO2–C make it an excellent support for Pt particles for application in electrocatalytic process. TEM investigation reveals that triple-phase interface of Pt, carbon and CeO2 forms in Pt/CeO2–C catalyst. Performance of the as-prepared catalyst for MOR was studied in alkaline medium. The Pt/CeO2–C catalyst shows superior catalytic performance for MOR compared with Pt/CeO2 and the physical mixture of Pt/CeO2 and acetylene black (Pt/CeO2+C). The significantly improved performance can be attributed to the synergetic effect between Pt particles and CeO2–C support, and the better conductivity of CeO2–C. This study provides a possible method to expand the application potential of CeO2 materials in MOR, and may also be used in other electrocatalytic process.