Evaluating the role of Lead In A Novel Ternary Catalysts For DMFCs

TL;DR

This study introduces a novel ternary alloy catalyst PtPb@Ru for direct methanol fuel cells, demonstrating enhanced activity and durability through synthesis, characterization, and in situ spectroscopy analysis.

Contribution

The paper presents a new porous ternary alloy catalyst synthesized via micro-emulsion, with detailed spectroscopic analysis explaining its improved performance over commercial catalysts.

Findings

PtPb@Ru catalysts show higher current density than PtRu.

XAS analysis reveals a down-shift in the d-band center of platinum.

Catalyst exhibits improved durability in cyclic voltammetry tests.

Abstract

The current density at lower potential is highly desirable in fuel cell technology and crucial center point for designing a new catalyst. By alloying platinum with various other metals, the improvisation of the fuel cell catalyst has achieved a lot of attention and interests. In this article, a novel porous ternary alloy PtPb@Ru as anode catalysts for direct methanol fuel cell had been synthesized by micro-emulsion technique. The catalysts had been characterized by various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The activity and durability of the catalysts had been tested by running cyclic voltammetry in 0.1 M HClO4 and 1M Methanol. To explain the many fold increase in current density of the PtPb@Ru catalysts in comparison to the commercial available PtRu catalysts, in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements, at the PtL3 edge (XANES and EXAFS) were carried out on the PtPb@Ru catalysts in an electrochemical cell. The down-shift in the d-band center of platinum observed in the XAS study, might be responsible for the better activity and high current density observed here.