Methanol tolerant core-shell RuFeSe@Pt/C catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Pt decorated RuFeSe/C catalyst is prepared by reduction of Pt precursor on pre-formed RuFeSe/C for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The catalyst is characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The catalyst particles are found to disperse on the carbon support with an average particle size of 2.8 nm. Physical characterizations and electrochemical tests confirm that Pt is deposited on the surfaces of RuFeSe particles and RuFeSe@Pt/C catalyst has a core-shell structure. The as-prepared catalyst has high durability and shows high ORR activity through a four-electron transfer process. RuFeSe@Pt/C exhibits 1.3-fold greater specific activity and 1.4-fold greater mass activity for ORR than Pt/C. More importantly, it has excellent tolerance to methanol. Consequently, RuFeSe@Pt/C may be used as fine cathode catalyst in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs).