Preparation of supported PtRu/C electrocatalyst for direct methanol fuel cells

In this work, high-surface supported PtRu/C were prepared with Ru(NO)(NO3)3 and [Pt(H2NCH2CH2NH2)2]Cl2 as the precursors and hydrogen as a reducing agent. XRD and TEM analyses showed that the PtRu/C catalysts with different loadings possessed small and homogeneous metal particles. Even at high metal loading (40 wt.% Pt, 20 wt.% Ru) the mean metal particle size is less than 4 nm. Meanwhile, the calculated Pt crystalline lattice parameter and Pt (2 2 0) peak position indicated that the geometric structure of Pt was modified by Ru atoms. Among the prepared catalysts, the lattice parameter of 40–20 wt.% PtRu/C contract most. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA), CO stripping and single direct methanol fuel cell tests jointly suggested that the 40–20 wt.% PtRu/C catalyst has the highest electrochemical activity for methanol oxidation.