Design and Preparation of CO Tolerant Anode Electrocatalysts for PEM Fuel Cells

Abstract

In this contribution the preparation and the thorough characterization of a novel electrocatalyst support material consisting of a composite of Ti0.7W0.3O2 mixed oxide and activated carbon is presented. A sol-gel based synthesis method optimized for depositing rutile TiO2 with high level of isovalent tungsten incorporation onto activated carbon was elaborated and the process of tungsten incorporation was followed by XRD and in situ XPS measurements. Electron microscopy studies demonstrated that Pt loading of the support by the NaBH4- assisted ethylene-glycol reduction method results in finely dispersed and highly stable nanoparticles. The assessment of the electrochemical properties of the catalyst revealed its enhanced CO tolerance and long term stability when compared to activated carbon supported Pt or state-of-art CO tolerant PtRu catalysts.