Effects of Mo Doping on Properties of Pt/C as Catalyst towards Electro-oxidation of Ethanol

Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells (DEFCs) have attracted lots of interest with the merits of high energy density and environmental benignity. Thus, development of novel efficient catalyst with high activity and excellent durability is of great importance for the future large-scale application of DEFCs. A series of Mo-doped Pt/C catalysts were synthesized with microwave assisted technology, and the effects of Mo content on the activity as well as durability of the resulted catalyst towards ethanol oxidation were comparatively investigated by using cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and chronoamperometry. The result shows that the Pt 2 Mo/C catalyst demonstrates a comparable onset potential to Pt/C, the highest current density and the slowest deterioration towards ethanol oxidation, implying that the Pt 2 Mo/C catalyst is best one to achieve highest activity and best durability.