Methanol Electrooxidation Activity

of Pt/C Catalyst Promoted

by Ce-Gd-Zr-O Solid Solution

Shuchi Sharma , Malaya K. Sahoo , and G. Ranga Rao

1 Introduction

In a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), the chemical energy stored in liquid methanol
is converted into electrical energy for a wide range of applications [1–4]. Methanol as
fuel at the anode is better than its competitor H2 as fuel in easy handling, convenient
storage and distribution, and an easy method of production and purification [5]. The
basic processes involved in a fuel cell are electrooxidation reactions at the anode and
electro-reduction reactions at the cathode, which require electrocatalysts to speed up
the reactions. However, there are chemical barriers to the commercial application of
such cells which include methanol crossover and sluggish kinetic rates of methanol
oxidation reaction (MOR) [6]. Platinum, which has been extensively explored as
a MOR catalyst works with the initial adsorption of the methanol on its surface,
followed by the addition of oxygen species leading to carbon dioxide formation as
the final product. However, intermediate species like COads are believed to poison the
surface of Pt, which ultimately decreases the efficiency of the process by blocking
the active sites of Pt [5, 7]. Bi-functional systems such as Pt-M, where M is another
metal, metal oxides, metal sulfides, or metal carbides, can be used to overcome such
problems. Metal oxides or carbides act as additional support systems, which help
in scavenging the poisoning species COads by adsorbing the oxyphilic species (-
OHads ). Support materials should have high surface area for dispersing stable metal
nanoparticles, providing good conductivity, and retaining structural stability under
electrochemical operations [8–11].
Further improvement in electrocatalytic performance can be encouraged by
controlling the morphology of noble metal nanostructures and employing newer

S. Sharma · M. K. Sahoo · G. R. Rao (B)

Department of Chemistry and DST- Solar Energy Harnessing Centre (DSEHC), Indian Institute of
Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
e-mail: grrao@iitm.ac.in

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 113
U. K. Mudali et al. (eds.), Recent Trends in Electrochemical Science
and Technology, Springer Proceedings in Materials 15,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7554-6_9