Formation of a PVP-protected C/UO2/Pt catalyst in a direct ethanol fuel cell

Abstract

In order to solve the problem that UO₂ in direct ethanol fuel cell anode catalysts is easily lost in acidic solution, resulting in the degradation of catalytic performance, this paper prepared a C/UO₂/PVP/Pt catalyst in three steps by adding polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The test results by XRD, XPS, TEM and ICP-MS showed that PVP had a good encapsulation effect on UO₂, and the actual loading rates of Pt and UO₂ were similar to the theoretical values. When 10% PVP was added, the dispersion of Pt nanoparticles was significantly improved, which reduced the particle size of Pt nanoparticles and provided more ethanol electrocatalytic oxidation reaction sites. The test results by electrochemical workstation showed that the catalytic activity as well as the stability of the catalysts were optimized due to the addition of 10% PVP.