Graphitized mesoporous carbon supported Pt-SnO₂ nanoparticles as a catalyst for methanol oxidation

A mesostructured composite catalyst, Pt-SnO₂ supported on graphitized mesoporous carbon (GMC), has been prepared and its electrochemical activity for methanol oxidation has been investigated. The materials were characterized by XRD, FESEM, TEM, EDX spectrum and N₂ sorption techniques. Cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and steady-state polarization tests were adopted to characterize the electro-catalytic activities of the materials for methanol oxidation. The results show that, the overall methanol electro-oxidation catalytic activity of the mesostructured composite catalyst, 20 wt.% PtSnO₂ (1:1, mass ratio)/GMC, is obviously higher than that of 20 wt.% PtSnO₂/C with commercial carbon black as support under the same loading amount of Pt-SnO₂ catalysts, and is also much higher than that of commercial catalyst 20 wt.% Pt/C at half Pt using amount.