Nanocomposite electrode materials in alcohol oxidation reactions
Agnieszka Martyła, Maciej Kopczyk, Monika Osińska-Broniarz, Piotr Marciniak, Robert Przekop
Quarterly No. 2, 2015 pages 83-87
DOI:
keywords: sol-gel, composite, electrocatalyst
abstract This paper presents an electroactivity comparison of Pt/SnO2 nanocomposites with different metal phase precursors in a methanol oxidation reaction. One of them is a water solution of hexachloroplatinic acid and the second is the platinum(0)-1,3-divinyl-1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane complex (known as Karstedt’s catalyst). The Pt/SnO2 system has a broad range of applications in various sectors of industry. It is a very popular heterogeneous and electrochemical catalyst as well , especially in fuel cells. This effect is due to the presence of platinum. As the most expensive component of the catalyst it is still a barrier to its widespread use, hence, the constant search for new, cost-effective methods of obtaining this kind of systems. The aim of the research was to obtain a highly active Pt/SnO2 catalyst with a low metal concentration in an electrochemical system. The small size of the Pt crystallites should result in high activity of the Pt/SnO2 system. We proposed two synthesis methods of the platinum catalyst based on the sol-gel technique and tin(IV) acetate as the SnO2 precursor in conjunction with the use of inorganic and organic sources of the metallic phase. The presented method of SnO2 synthesis allows for obtaining nano-support and in the next step - a nano-catalyst. The system structures were investigated using TEM and XRD techniques to describe their thermal structural evolution. To study the influence of the metallic phase precursor, we used cyclic voltammetry (in acidic media), which is the best method to check the activity of the electrocatalyst. The results showed high electrocatalytical activity of the nanocomposites, irrespective of the metal phase source. The systems obtained from an organosilicone precursor demonstrate high temperature stability.