Platinum catalysts promoted by In doped SnO2 support for methanol electrooxidation in alkaline electrolyte

Composite metal oxides InxSnO2 are prepared with a simple hydrothermal process and used as functionalized support of Pt catalyst toward methanol electrooxidation reaction (MOR). The catalytic activity of Pt is strongly dependent on the composition of the support. Introduction of a small amount of In into SnO2 support exhibits much higher promoting effect to the Pt catalytic properties as compared with Pt/SnO2 and commercial Pt/C catalysts. The mass-specific activity (MSA) and intrinsic activity (IA) of Pt in Pt/In0.1SnO2 is 3.0 and 4.3 times that of Pt/C, respectively. Changes in Pt electronic structure arising from the interaction between Pt and the support are responsible for this improvement. Our findings clearly suggest that the composite metal oxides InxSnO2 can not only act as the catalyst support but also act as an effective promoter to Pt toward MOR, which would be promising in designing new catalysts that can replace the traditional catalytic nanostructure.