Methanol Electrooxidation Activity of Pt/C Catalyst Promoted by Ce-Gd-Zr-O Solid Solution

It has been a challenge to design and/or identify electrocatalysts that can reduce the use of platinum (Pt) and enhance the catalytic activity by employing promoters. Oxide and carbide promoters can increase the electrocatalytic activity of Pt/C. Oxide promoters stabilize adsorbed OH species, which helps to oxidize the poisoning carbonaceous species at lower overpotentials. Herein, composition-controlled, Ce0.8Gd0.1Zr0.1O2-x (CGZO-08) and Ce0.3Gd0.5Zr0.2O2-x (CGZO-03) solid solutions were prepared hydrothermally using soft template method. The structural and morphological properties of both the samples were studied by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The Pt-CGZO/C electrocatalysts were prepared by microwave-assisted polyol process to assess the promoting activity of solid solutions for methanol electrooxidation in an acidic medium. The activity of Pt-CGZO-03/C electrode was found to be better in terms of electrochemically active surface area, current density, antipoisoning activity, and stability than the Pt-CGZO-08/C electrode. Further, the effect of increasing gadolinium content on electrooxidation of methanol has also been examined.