Preparation of highly dispersed Pt catalyst using sodium alkoxide as a reducing agent and its application to the methanol electro-oxidation

A platinum precursor (H₂PtCl₆) was reduced to platinum nanoparticles using sodium alkoxide in the presence of a carbon support. Various electrolytes such as H₂O, HCl, and NaCl were used in order to deposit platinum nanoparticles on the carbon support. In the case of H₂O and NaCl, Pt nanoparticles were not successfully supported on the carbon. However, HCl was found to be efficient for the deposition of Pt nanoparticles on the carbon support. The supported Pt catalysts with various Pt loadings (40-80 wt.%) were prepared and characterized by comparison with commercially available carbon-supported Pt catalysts. It was revealed that the prepared Pt catalysts showed a better catalytic performance than the commercial catalysts in the electro-oxidation of methanol, due to the enhanced active metal surface areas of the prepared Pt catalysts.