Preparation of PtSn/C Skeletal-Type Electrocatalysts for Ethanol Electro-oxidation

PtSnCu/C electrocatalysts were synthesized with 20 wt% of metals loading and different Pt:Sn:Cu atomic ratios by borohydride reduction method using 2-propanol as solvent, H2PtCl6.6H2O, SnCl2.2H2O and CuCl2.2H2O as metals sources, NaBH4 as reducing agent and carbon black Vulcan XC72 as support. In a second step, the electrocatalysts were treated with nitric acid. The obtained materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction and EDX analysis. The electro-oxidation of ethanol was studied by chronoamperometry in acid medium at room temperature. The Xray diffractograms of the as-synthesized electrocatalysts showed the typical face-centered cubic (FCC) structure of Pt and Pt alloys. After treatment with nitric acid the X-ray diffractrograms showed that the FCC structure was preserved and EDX analysis that Sn an Cu were partially removed. The results obtained by chronoamperometry showed for all electrocatalysts an increase of performance for ethanol electro-oxidation after acid treatment.