A Pt-Bi bimetallic nanoparticle catalyst for direct electro-oxidation of formic acid in fuel cells

Abstract

Direct formic acid fuel cells are a promising portable power-generating device, and the development of efficient anodic catalysts is essential for such a fuel cell. In this work Pt-Bi nanoparticles supported on micro-fabricated gold wire array substrate were synthesized using an electrochemical deposition method for formic acid oxidation in fuel cells. The surface morphology and element components of the Pt-Bi/Au nanoparticles were characterized, and the catalytic activities of the three Pt-Bi/Au nanoparticle electrodes with different Pt/Bi ratios for formic acid oxidation were evaluated. It was found that Pt₄Bi₉₆/Au had a much higher catalytic activity than Pt₁₁Bi₈₉/Au and Pt₁₃Bi₈₇/Au, and Pt₄Bi₉₆/Au exhibited a current density of 2.7 mA·cm^-2, which was 27-times greater than that of Pt/Au. The electro-catalytic activity of the Pt-Bi/Au electrode for formic acid oxidation increased with the increasing Bi content, suggesting that it would be possible to achieve an efficient formic acid oxidation on the low Pt-loading. Therefore, the Pt-Bi/Au electrode offers a promising catalyst with a high activity for direct oxidation of formic acid in fuel cells.

Keywords

catalyst / electrochemical deposition / formic acid oxidation / fuel cell / gold wire array / microfabrication

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51129803), the National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (No. 20090160S) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. WK2060190007) for the support of this study.

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg