Rapid synthesis of XC-72 and carbon nanotubes supported PtRu nanoparticles by microwave irradiation for methanol electrooxidation application

Abstract

XC-72 carbon and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) supported PtRu alloy nanoparticles with Pt:Ru of 1:1 were rapidly prepared by microwave assisted heating polyol process. The PtRu loading was 20%. TEM observations showed that the microwave-synthesized PtRu nanoparticles had very small diameters and a sharp particle size distribution. These nanoparticles were highly dispersed on the surface of XC-72 carbon and CNTs with average diameter of 3.30 nm and 2.81 nm, respectively. Electrochemical measurements showed that the microwave-prepared PtRu/XC-72 and PtRu/CNTs nanocatalysts exhibited higher electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation at room temperature than PtRu/XC-72 catalyst prepared using KBH4 as the reducing agent by wet chemical method.