Electrocatalytic properties of multi-wall carbon nanotubes-supported PtSn anodic catalyst for ethanol electro-oxidation

Multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs)-supported PtSn anodic electrocatalyst was prepared for direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC). TEM image and XRD patterns reveal that PtSn/MWNTs catalyst exhibited a high and homogeneous dispersion of metal particles with a narrow particle size distribution range from 1.5 to 6.5 nm, and the mean particles size was about 3.6 nm. The results of cyclic voltammetry(CV), chronoamperometry(CP) and single cell indicated that the PtSn/MWNTs presented a higher activity toward ethanol electro-oxidation than that of PtSn/XC-72 catalyst. The high performance could be attributed to the unique structure, higher electric properties of MWNTs, compared with that of carbon black XC-72 as the support.