Carbonized phenanthroline functionalized carbon as an alternative support: a strategy to intensify Pt activity and durability for methanol oxidation

Abstract

In this study, a carbonized phenanthroline functionalized carbon support (CPF-C) has been prepared, which was used to load Pt nanoparticles to serve as an electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation. The results show that the performance of Pt in Pt/CPF-C is improved relative to that of industrially adopted Pt/C. The increase is mainly interpreted in terms of the synergistic effect between the stabilized Pt nanoparticles and nitrogen-functionalized CPF-C support. The novel CPF-C support presented here offers an alternative to the conventional carbon support to improve the performance of Pt applied in direct methanol fuel cells.