Carbon Nanotubes Supported Pt Catalysts for Ethanol Oxidation in Alkaline Solutions

An efficient method for functionalizing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is reported, which combined HF corrosion with sulfuric acid and nitric acid for further oxidation. The X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy are employed to investigate the physic-properties of the prepared catalysts. Cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry methods are used to study the performance of the prepared catalysts. CNTs further treated with H2SO4 and HNO3 mixed solutions with the volume ratio of 1 to 3, heating at 100 oC for 2 h, used as catalysts supports exhibit significantly improved performance towards ethanol oxidation in alkaline solutions in comparison with other decorated CNTs. The reason could be attributed to the oxygen-contain functional groups on CNTs surface can efficiently improve the interaction between CNTs and metallic particles in catalysts.