Influence of the synthesis method on the properties of Pt catalysts supported on carbon nanocoils for ethanol oxidation

Pt electrocatalysts supported on carbon nanocoils (CNCs) were prepared by the sodium borohydride (BM), formic acid (FAM) and ethylene glycol (EGM) reduction methods in order to determine the influence of the synthesis method on the physicochemical and electrochemical properties of Pt/CNC catalysts. For this purpose, physicochemical properties of these materials were studied by means of energy dispersive X-ray analyses, X-ray diffraction and N2-physisorption, whereas their electrochemical activity towards ethanol and carbon monoxide oxidation was studied using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Furthermore, in order to complete this study, the results obtained for Pt/CNC catalysts were compared with those obtained for Pt catalysts supported on Vulcan XC-72R (commercial support) prepared by the same methods and for the commercial Pt/C catalysts from E-TEK. Results showed that, for all studied methods, CO oxidation occurred at more negative potentials on Pt/CNC catalysts than on Pt/Vulcan and Pt/C E-TEK ones. On the other hand, higher current densities for the ethanol electrooxidation were obtained when CNCs were used as support for BM and EGM. It is concluded that optimizing the synthesis method on CNC, materials with enhanced electrooxidation properties could be developed.