Effect of pulse electrodeposition parameters on electrocatalytic the activity of methanol oxidation and morphology of Pt/C catalyst for direct methanol fuel cells

The electrodeposition technique for preparing direct methanol fuel cell electrodes has been developed to increase the Pt utilization and lower the Pt loading. The performance of the Pt/C electrode for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) was optimized by adjusting the electrodeposition parameters such as applied electrical signal types, ratios of ton/toff, deposition temperatures, and electrolyte concentrations, systematically. Furthermore, the effects of two kinds of additives, i.e. polyethylene glycol (PEG) and sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS), on the catalytic performance and morphology of Pt catalyst were investigated for MOR by SEM, XRD, cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry. The results show that the optimal Pt catalyst has been prepared by the square wave current method with ton/toff of 1 s/5 s at 30 °C in a 1.0 mmol L−1 H2PtCl6 solution with a 10−4 mmol L−1 PEG additive. Moreover, the effect of the additive type and amount on the formation mechanism of the Pt crystallite morphology has also been discussed. From the results, introducing additives into the deposition solution in the pulse electrodeposition process is useful for designing and fabricating electrocatalytic electrodes for direct methanol fuel cells.