Analysis of the high-temperature methanol oxidation behaviour at carbon-supported Pt-Ru catalysts

Methanol oxidation behaviour at three Pt-Ru catalysts varying by the concentration of active phase on the carbon support has been investigated in a wide temperature range (80-130 °C). An increase of the adsorbed methanolic residue stripping charge is observed with the increase of catalyst dispersion. As the temperature is increased, the stripping peak potential shifts more negatively accounting for a lower activation barrier for the reaction. An increase of temperature above 90 °C also produces a strong decrease in the coverage of adsorbed methanolic residues. The fuel cell performance is significantly enhanced by catalysts with intrinsically high catalytic activity, whereas the methanol reaction rate appears to be less influenced by an increase in coverage of active species. Catalysts characterized by a higher degree of alloying and metallic behaviour on the surface appear to be more active towards methanol oxidation. However, the physico-chemical properties of the catalysts have less influence on the anode electrochemical behaviour at high temperature since CO poisoning is alleviated under such conditions. The decrease of CO-like species coverage with temperature and the methanol tolerance characteristics of a Pt/C cathode are also discussed in relation to the crossover drawback of direct methanol fuel cells. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.