Issue 5, 2014

Ni2P enhances the activity and durability of the Pt anode catalyst in direct methanol fuel cells

Abstract

Pt is the state-of-the-art anode catalyst in direct methanol fuel cells. Here we report that Ni2P promotes the activity and stability of Pt in electrochemical methanol oxidation. Nanoparticles of Ni2P and Pt were co-deposited on a carbon support and their activity in electrochemical methanol oxidation was measured by cyclic voltammetry. Among all Pt–Ni2P/C catalysts, the sample with a 30 wt% loading of Ni2P exhibits the highest electrochemical surface area and activity. The activity of the Pt–Ni2P/C-30% catalyst is significantly higher than that of Pt/C, Ni-promoted Pt/C, and P-promoted Pt/C catalysts, revealed by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Accordingly to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, there is a partial electron transfer from Ni2P to Pt, which might be an origin of the enhanced catalytic activity of the Pt/Ni2P bimetallic catalyst. The Pt–Ni2P/C-30% was integrated into a direct methanol fuel cell; this fuel cell exhibits a maximum power density of 65 mW cm−2, more than twice of that of an analogous fuel cell using Pt/C as the anode catalyst. The Pt–Ni2P/C-30%-integrated direct methanol fuel cell has also the highest discharge stability among a series of fuel cells with different Pt-based anode catalysts.

Graphical abstract: Ni2P enhances the activity and durability of the Pt anode catalyst in direct methanol fuel cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
10 Jan 2014
Accepted
05 Feb 2014
First published
11 Feb 2014

Energy Environ. Sci., 2014,7, 1628-1632

Ni2P enhances the activity and durability of the Pt anode catalyst in direct methanol fuel cells

J. Chang, L. Feng, C. Liu, W. Xing and X. Hu, Energy Environ. Sci., 2014, 7, 1628 DOI: 10.1039/C4EE00100A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements