Graphitized mesoporous carbon supported Pt–SnO2 nanoparticles as a catalyst for methanol oxidation

Abstract A mesostructured composite catalyst, Pt–SnO 2 supported on graphitized mesoporous carbon (GMC), has been prepared and its electrochemical activity for methanol oxidation has been investigated. The materials were characterized by XRD, FESEM, TEM, EDX spectrum and N 2 sorption techniques. Cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and steady-state polarization tests were adopted to characterize the electro-catalytic activities of the materials for methanol oxidation. The results show that, the overall methanol electro-oxidation catalytic activity of the mesostructured composite catalyst, 20 wt.% PtSnO 2 (1:1, mass ratio)/GMC, is obviously higher than that of 20 wt.% PtSnO 2 /C with commercial carbon black as support under the same loading amount of Pt–SnO 2 catalysts, and is also much higher than that of commercial catalyst 20 wt.% Pt/C at half Pt using amount.