Self-Supporting Bimetallic Pt-Ni Aerogel as Electrocatalyst for Ethanol Oxidation Reaction

The fuel cell has attracted researchers' attention owing to its advantages of being adjustable and controllable, wide application, high efficiency, and low energy, etc. However, the main cost of fuel cells still comes from catalysts at present. Platinum-based catalysts are still the most widely used catalysts in both cathodic ORR reactions and anodic EOR reactions. For the anodic EOR process, combined with in-situ improved self-gelling and Galvanic Replacement methods, a kind of Pt-Ni aerogel composite with a three-dimensional porous network structure was prepared. The obtained Pt-Ni bimetallic aerogel materials were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Furthermore, the electrocatalytic activity of the synthesized Pt-Ni aerogels for the oxidation of EtOH in KOH was measured. The prepared Pt-Ni aerogel has the characteristics of high conductivity and catalytic activity of metal itself and high specific surface area and porosity of aerogels. The peak current density of Pt-Ni aerogel was about two times of the Ni aerogel prepared under the same situation, and the ECSA of Pt-Ni aerogel was about twice that of Ni aerogel, indicating that the addition of Pt could increase the active site of Pt-Ni aerogel, which made the Pt-Ni aerogel composite material have excellent catalytic activity.