Anode catalysts for direct ethanol fuel cells utilizing directly solar light illumination

Abstract

Novvel PtNiRu/TiO2 anode catalysts for direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFCs) were prepared from PtNiRu nanoparticles (1:1:1 atomic ratios) and a nanoporous Ti02 film by a sol-gel and electrodepo-sition method. The performances of the catalysts for ethanol oxidation were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperom-etry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results indicate a remarkable enhancement of activity for ethanol oxidation under solar light illumination. Under solar light illumination, the generated oxidaton peak current density is 24.6 mA cm -2 which is about 2.5 times higher than that observed without solar light (9.9 mA cm-2). The high catalytic activity of the PtNiRu/TiO2 complex catalyst for the electrooxidation of ethanol may be attributed to the modified metal/nanoporous TiO2 film, and the enhanced electrooxidation of ethanol under solar light may be due to the photogeneration of holes in the modified nanoporous TiO2 film. © 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.