Synthesis and characterization of Pt/CC nanoparticle electrocatalyst for direct Methanol fuel cell

Because of energy crisis and environmental affinity, fuel cells (FCs) are widely investigated and considered as one of the most important power recourses. Among several alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, propanol and butanol, which can be used in a direct alcohol fuel cell (DAFC), methanol is generally considered as the most appropriate fuel for DAFCs. Because, it is a liquid fuel of relatively high activity in fuel cell systems and can be nearly completely electrooxidized to the final product of CO2 due to its simple molecular structure [1].Anode catalysts in fuel cells are commonly based on carbon materials containing platinum. Due to the fact that catalysis is a surface effect, the decrease of catalyst particles size in order to increase of effective surface of catalyst is a necessity. So, the catalyst (Pt) is dispersed on a conductive support such as carbon. Considering the stability, permeability, simplicity and especially low cost, easy production and porosity of carbon ceramic electrode (CCE) [2], in this work we studied the electrooxidation of methanol on a carbon ceramic electrode modified with Pt nanoparticles