Formation of a PVP-protected C/UO/Pt catalyst in a direct ethanol fuel cell.

In order to solve the problem that UO in direct ethanol fuel cell anode catalysts is easily lost in acidic solution, resulting in the degradation of catalytic performance, this paper prepared a C/UO/PVP/Pt catalyst in three steps by adding polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The test results by XRD, XPS, TEM and ICP-MS showed that PVP had a good encapsulation effect on UO, and the actual loading rates of Pt and UO were similar to the theoretical values. When 10% PVP was added, the dispersion of Pt nanoparticles was significantly improved, which reduced the particle size of Pt nanoparticles and provided more ethanol electrocatalytic oxidation reaction sites.

Research on UO modification of a direct ethanol fuel cell Pt/C catalyst.

Radioactive UO powder was prepared by hydrothermal method and a set of Pt-UO/C catalysts were synthesized by impregnation method for solving the problem of low activity and easy poisoning of anode Pt/C catalysts for a direct ethanol fuel cell. XRD, TEM, EDS, XPS and ICP-MS characterization showed the successful loading of Pt and UO onto the carbon carrier. Electrochemical workstation and single cell test results confirm that the catalytic performance of Pt-10% UO/C is significantly better than Pt/C-eg.

Improved performance of self-reactivated Pt-ThO/C catalysts in a direct ethanol fuel cell.

A novel self-reactivated catalyst Pt-ThO/C was prepared for the first time by selecting radioactive material ThO as the catalytic additive to address the low activity and toxicity of the anode Pt/C catalyst in a direct ethanol fuel cell. The catalytic activity and resistance to CO poisoning of Pt-6.67 wt%ThO/C were found to be superior to those of Pt/C-NaBH in electrochemical workstation and single-cell tests.