Highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles supported on manganese oxide–poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)–carbon nanotubes composite for enhanced methanol electrooxidation

• A new Pt-based catalyst using the MnOx–PEDOT–MWCNTs composite as support is reported.
• Highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles are uniformly deposited on the MnOx–PEDOT–MWCNTs.
• The catalyst shows high catalytic performance for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR).

We herein report a novel Pt-based electrocatalyst for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) supported manganese oxide and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanocomposite (MnOx–PEDOT–MWCNTs) as catalyst support for Pt nanoparticles. The prepared nanocomposites are characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemical tests. The results demonstrate that Pt nanoparticles are uniformly deposited on the surface of MnOx–PEDOT–MWCNTs, and their dispersion and electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) are obviously improved. The methanol electrooxidation activity and stability of the Pt/MnOx–PEDOT–MWCNTs are significantly enhanced as compared with the Pt/PEDOT–MWCNTs and Pt/MWCNTs catalysts. This study implies that the as-prepared Pt/MnOx–PEDOT–MWCNTs will be a promising candidate as an anode electrocatalyst in DMFCs.

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