Fabrication of a bimetallic Cu/Pt particle-modified carbon nanotube paste electrode and its use for the electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol

• Carbon nanotube paste electrode (CNTPE) was used for deposition of Cu/Pt particles.
• The Cu/Pt-coated CNTPE shows superior electrocatalytic activity towards oxidation.
• CNTs improve the electrocatalytic activity of methanol and formaldehyde oxidation.

In this work, carbon nanotube paste electrode (CNTPE) was used as a substrate for deposition of bimetallic Cu/Pt particles. At first, a Cu film was prepared by electrochemical reduction of Cu ions onto the CNTPE in 0.1 M H2SO4 solution. Cu/Pt catalysts were prepared by partial galvanic replacement of Cu with Pt by simply immersion of the Cu-coated CNTPE in 2.0 mM H2PtCl6 solution. The nature and surface morphology of the bare CNTPE and fabricated Cu/Pt species were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry. The Cu/Pt-modified CNTPE exhibits remarkable electrocatalytic activity towards methanol oxidation. It has been shown that carbon nanotubes improve the electrocatalytic activity of the catalysts towards oxidation. Then, the influence of various parameters such as Cu source concentration, electrodeposition time, replacement time, and methanol concentration on its oxidation as well as long-term stability of the modified electrode have been investigated by electrochemical methods.

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