Investigation on Electrocatalytic Activity and Stability of Pt/C Catalyst Prepared by Facile Solvothermal Synthesis for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

Pt nanoparticles supported on Vulcan XC-72 carbon black have been synthesized by a facile solvothermal method. The obtained Pt/C catalysts are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis to identify Pt mean size and Pt content. The results of electrochemical measurements demonstrate that the Pt/C catalyst prepared at the reaction temperature of 140°C and the reaction time of 2 h shows the biggest initial electrochemical area with an initial electrochemically active specific surface area (ESA) of 70.6 m²g_Pt^-1, the highest electrocatalytic stability with an ESA loss of 48.7% after 1,000 CV cycles, and the best electrocatalytic activity and stability toward methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) with a specific activity of 0.6mAcm^-2 and a retention rate (the ratio of the final current density to the maximum current density) after 3,600s of 42.8%. Moreover, the electrochemical performance of homemade Pt/C catalyst is superior to that of commercial Pt/C catalyst, suggesting that the solvothermal synthesis is a promising method for preparing Pt based catalyst.