Acid-treated PtSn/C and PtSnCu/C electrocatalysts for ethanol electro-oxidation

PtSn/C with Pt:Sn atomic ratio of 50:50 and PtSnCu/C electrocatalysts with different Pt:Sn:Cu atomic ratios were prepared using NaBH4 as reducing agent and carbon black Vulcan XC72 as support. In a second step, the electrocatalysts were treated with nitric acid to remove the less noble metals (chemical dealloying). The obtained materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, EDX analysis, TEM images with EDX scan-line and cyclic voltammetry. The electro-oxidation of ethanol was studied by chronoamperometry and on single direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC). The X-ray diffractograms of the as-synthesized electrocatalysts showed the typical face-centered cubic (FCC) structure of Pt alloys. After acid treatment the FCC structure was maintained and Sn and Cu atoms were removed from the nanoparticles surface. Chronoamperometry measurements showed a strong increase of performance of PtSn/C and PtSnCu/C electrocatalysts after acid treatment; however, under DEFC conditions at 100 °C, only acid-treated PtSn/C electrocatalyst showed superior performance compared to commercial PtSn/C from BASF.