ScienceAsia 32 (2006): 253-260 |doi: 10.2306/scienceasia1513-1874.2006.32.253

Characterization of Pt- and PtRu-Solid Polymer Membrane Electrodes for Methanol Electro-Oxidation Reaction in Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

Tanakorn Ratana,^a* Pongsaton Amornpitoksuk^b and Waret Veerasai^a

 
ABSTRACT: Nano-sized of Pt and PtRu particles on solid polymer electrode (SPE) membrane were prepared by the modified Takenaka-Torika (T-T) method. The morphological characteristics and catalyst compositions were also studied on the Pt- and PtRu-SPEs. The electrodes were characterized using electrochemical measurements, scanning electron microscope with electron dispersive microscope (SEM-EDX) and X-ray diffraction analysis. The well-dispersed Pt and PtRu alloy nanoparticles with crystallite size of 12-6 nm were obtained in the preparation. The differences in morphology of the nano-, micro-structure and composition of these catalysts effected the electro-catalytic activity of methanol electro-oxidation reaction. The electrochemical result showed that the mole ratio between Ru and Pt at 0.10 was the best condition for the methanol electro-oxidation reaction in partial cell study.

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a Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University , Bangkok, 10400, Thailand.
b Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Songkla, 90100 Thailand.

* Corresponding author, E-mail: g4336103@yahoo.com

Received 22 Aug 2005, Accepted 9 Mar 2006