CO tolerant anode catalyst for residential fuel cell system

Abstract

From the viewpoint of environmental protection, residential fuel cell systems are expected to be widely used. Pt-Ru/C catalyst is usually used as anode catalyst for fuel cell, CO strongly adsorbed on Pt is removed by oxidation to CO 2. Since CO adsorbed on Pt reacts with OH adsorbed on Ru, Pt-Ru bonding on the surface of Pt-Ru particle is active site for CO oxidation via bifunctional mechanism or water-gas shift reaction. Enthalpy of homo bonding such as Pt -Pt or Ru -Ru is lower than that of Pt -Ru. Pt and Ru atoms are randomly distributed and number of Pt-Ru bonding is theoretically maximum for the Pt-Ru catalyst prepared by rapid quenching method. Hydrogen oxidation reaction effectively proceeds even in the presence of high concentration of CO.