Background
Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC) use methanol (CH) in liquid form3OH) as fuel. Direct methanol fuel cells are a variation of proton exchange membrane fuel cells that use methanol directly without prior reforming. The methanol is converted at the anode into carbon dioxide, protons (hydrogen nuclei or hydrogen ions) and electrons, which migrate through the pem to and react with oxygen at the cathode, and electrons through an external circuit, as in a standard pem fuel cellThe load reaches the anode and performs work.
Improving the activity of electrode catalysts is one of the keys driving the development of DMFCs. Pt is the earliest catalyst and has better electrocatalytic activity, and particularly has great advantage in reducing the over-potential of methanol oxidation. In addition, the noble metal Pt has higher corrosion resistance in an acid solution, so that the catalyst has better stability. To date, no better single metal has been found to replace Pt. However, the natural reserves of platinum are limited, the price is high, and the intermediate product of methanol oxidation easily poisons the platinum electrode, so that the research on the anode catalyst with high catalytic performance and poisoning resistance becomes a key problem for the development of fuel cells. The new catalyst system (Pt alloy, Pt-metal oxide, etc.) is adopted, which not only improves the activity of the catalyst, but also reduces the dosage of the platinum group noble metal catalyst, thereby reducing the cost.
Among the Pt alloy catalysts, Pt — Co alloy catalysts are a commonly used catalyst type. Nana Du et al (Nano Research, 2017, 10(9): 3228-typed PtCo nanoparticles derived from Pt @ ZIF-67: high-purity active and durable catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction) Pt nanoparticles were added to the synthesis precursor of ZIF-67, so that the Pt nanoparticles were adsorbed in situ to ZIF-67, and pyrolyzed at high temperature in a nitrogen atmosphere to obtain a nitrogen-doped carbon-stabilized PtCo Nano alloy catalyst (PtCo @ NC) having high electrocatalytic activity and being capable of reducing the cost of the catalyst. However, in the above preparation method, the Pt nanoparticles are very easy to agglomerate, and the addition of the Pt nanoparticles to the precursor for synthesis of ZIF-67 does not allow the Pt nanoparticles to be wrapped in ZIF-67 well, thereby causing a great amount of waste of Pt nanoparticle raw materials and increasing preparation cost invisibly.
Inspired by mussel adhesive protein, a research of Messersmith et al in 2007 finds that PDA formed by oxidation self-polymerization of dopamine as a monomer under the condition of oxygen and weak base has a similar structure with the adhesive protein and can be used as a surface modification layer of organic and inorganic solids. The large number of catechol and amino structures in PDA confers its characteristic properties: 1) adhesion, which can form a conformal and continuous coating on the surface of almost all materials due to the affinity of the bulk catechol functionality in PDA structures; 2) the hydrophilic property, the phenolic hydroxyl and the amino in the PDA structure can form hydrogen bonds with water molecules and are well dispersed in water, so that the hydrophilic property of the PDA can be utilized to modify the hydrophobic material; 3) biocompatibility, MTT method proves that PDA film is non-toxic, and in vitro cell is easier to grow on the viscous surface, so that the modified biological material of PDA has good biocompatibility and can be widely applied to biomedicine; 4) the chemical activity is that the phenolic hydroxyl and amino in PDA can react with mercapto, mercaptan and other groups through Michael addition and Schiff base to perform subsequent secondary reaction, and on the other hand, metal ions can be chelated through coordination.
Based on the prior art, the invention develops a method for preparing the PtCo @ NC catalyst by taking PDA as a surface modifier, and the catalyst is used for a direct methanol fuel cell. The method can effectively improve the utilization rate and the adhesive force of the noble metal raw material, reduce the preparation cost of the catalyst, has the electricity generation performance superior to that of a commercial Pt/C catalyst when being used for a fuel cell, and has good application prospect and economic value.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide an application of a PtCo @ NC catalyst in a direct methanol fuel cell, wherein the catalyst is used as an anode material and is respectively connected with an electrochemical workstation together with a cathode material, and methanol oxidation reaction is carried out in an electrolyte containing methanol aqueous solution, so that electricity is generated; in the catalyst, metal Pt and Co form an alloy, NC is a nitrogen-doped carbon carrier, based on the total weight of the catalyst, the Pt accounts for 5-15wt% of the weight of the catalyst, and the Co accounts for 0.5-5wt% of the weight of the catalyst.
Further, the Pt accounts for 8-12wt% of the weight of the catalyst, and the Co accounts for 1-3wt% of the weight of the catalyst.
Further, in the PtCo alloy, the atomic ratio of Pt and Co is 1:1-5, preferably 1: 2-4.
Further, the size of the PtCo alloy particles is about 3-6 nm.
Further, the preparation method of the PtCo @ NC catalyst comprises the following steps:
(1) preparation of ZIF-67
Dissolving soluble cobalt salt in methanol to obtain 0.05-0.3mol/L cobalt salt solution, dissolving 2-methylimidazole in methanol to obtain 0.2-1 mol/L2-methylimidazole solution, mixing the cobalt salt solution and the 2-methylimidazole solution, enabling the molar ratio of the cobalt salt to the 2-methylimidazole in the obtained mixed solution to be 1:4, magnetically stirring for 20-40min, standing and incubating for 15-25h at 25-50 ℃, centrifuging the obtained product, washing with deionized water and ethanol for several times, and drying to obtain ZIF-67;
(2) preparation of Polydopamine coated ZIF-67
Dissolving dopamine in a Tris-HCl buffer solution with the concentration of 10mM and the pH =8.5 to ensure that the concentration of the dopamine is 0.5-2mg/ml, adding the ZIF-67 prepared in the step (1), carrying out reflux reaction at the temperature of 30-50 ℃ for 3-6h, carrying out centrifugal separation after the reaction is finished, and washing with absolute ethyl alcohol to obtain polydopamine-coated ZIF-67;
(3) preparation of Pt @ polydopamine coated ZIF-67
Soaking the polydopamine-coated ZIF-67 prepared in the step (2) in a soluble platinum salt solution, and reacting for 1-3h under a stirring condition to enable metal Pt to be fully complexed on the surface of the polydopamine through coordination bonds; the concentration of the soluble platinum salt is 0.002-0.05 mol/L;
(4) preparation of PtCo @ NC catalyst
And (4) placing the Pt @ polydopamine-coated ZIF-67 obtained in the step (3) in a tubular furnace, and roasting at the temperature of 900 ℃ for 3-8 h under the protection of nitrogen to obtain the PtCo @ NC catalyst.
Further, the soluble cobalt salt in the step (1) is one or more of cobalt nitrate, cobalt chloride and cobalt acetate.
Further, the concentration of the dopamine solution in the step (2) is preferably 1-1.5 mg/ml.
Further, the soluble platinum salt in the step (3) is selected from H2PtCl6、Pt(NO3)2、K2PtCl6、PtCl4One or more of (a).
Further, the concentration of the soluble platinum salt in the step (3) is 0.01-0.03 mol/L.
Further, the roasting in the step (4) is carried out in two steps, namely roasting at the temperature of 400 ℃ and 600 ℃ for 1-2h, and then roasting at the temperature of 700 ℃ and 900 ℃ for 2-6 h.
According to the invention, the nano-layer coating is formed on the surface of the ZIF-67 through the adhesion effect of PDA, and a large amount of phenolic hydroxyl and amino on the surface of PDA can form stable coordination bonds with metal, so that Pt is chelated on the surface of PDA @ ZIF-67 in a highly-dispersed manner. The metal compound is reduced by volatilizing a large amount of reducing gas from the organic compound framework and the poly-dopamine by roasting in an oxygen-free atmosphere, and meanwhile, Pt and Co particles are easy to shrink and close at high temperature to fuse to form an alloy. The PtCo alloy prepared by the preparation method has very small particle size, is only 3-6nm according to TEM representation, and is loaded on the surface of a nitrogen-doped carbon carrier in a highly dispersed manner.
Compared with the prior art that Pt nano particle dispersion liquid is adopted as a precursor, the method adopts soluble platinum salt as the precursor, and adopts PDA capable of efficiently chelating metal platinum salt as a surface modifier, so that the utilization rate and the adhesive force of the noble metal raw material can be effectively improved. Meanwhile, the modification method of the PDA is extremely simple, and a harsh modification environment is not needed. The PDA is green and environment-friendly, has strong biocompatibility, and can form a nitrogen-doped carbon carrier after high-temperature roasting.
The PtCo @ NC catalyst prepared by the invention has a much higher current density than a commercial Pt/C catalyst when used for methanol oxidation, and has a good application prospect.
Detailed Description
The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.
Example 1
(1) Preparation of ZIF-67
Dissolving cobalt nitrate in methanol to obtain 0.1mol/L cobalt salt solution, dissolving 2-methylimidazole in methanol to obtain 0.5 mol/L2-methylimidazole solution, mixing the cobalt salt solution and the 2-methylimidazole solution, keeping the molar ratio of the cobalt salt to the 2-methylimidazole in the obtained mixed solution at 1:4, magnetically stirring for 30min, standing and incubating at 35 ℃ for 20h, centrifuging the obtained product, washing with deionized water and ethanol for several times, and drying to obtain ZIF-67;
(2) preparation of Polydopamine coated ZIF-67
Dissolving dopamine in a Tris-HCl buffer solution with the concentration of 10mM and the pH =8.5 to enable the concentration of the dopamine to be 1mg/ml, adding the ZIF-67 prepared in the step (1), carrying out reflux reaction at 40 ℃ for 5h, after the reaction is finished, carrying out centrifugal separation, and washing with absolute ethyl alcohol to obtain polydopamine-coated ZIF-67;
(3) preparation of Pt @ polydopamine coated ZIF-67
Soaking the polydopamine-coated ZIF-67 prepared in the step (2) in a H2PtCl6 solution with the concentration of 0.01 mol/L, and reacting for 2 hours under the stirring condition, so that metal Pt is fully complexed on the surface of the polydopamine through coordination bonds;
(4) preparation of PtCo @ NC catalyst
Putting the Pt @ polydopamine-coated ZIF-67 obtained in the step (3) into a tubular furnace, and roasting at 500 ℃ for 2 hours and then at 850 ℃ for 5 hours under the protection of nitrogen to obtain the PtCo @ NC catalyst; based on the total weight of the catalyst, the Pt accounted for 10.3wt% of the catalyst weight, and the Co accounted for 2.6wt% of the catalyst weight. FIG. 1 is a TEM image of Pt (10.3wt%) Co (2.6wt%) @ NC of the present example, and it can be seen from FIG. 1 that PtCo alloy particles in the PtCo @ NC catalyst prepared by the present invention are only 3-6nm, and are highly dispersed and supported on the surface of the nitrogen-doped carbon support.
Example 2
(1) ZIF-67 was prepared as in step (1) of example 1;
(2) polydopamine coated ZIF-67 was prepared as in step (2) of example 1;
(3) preparation of Pt @ polydopamine coated ZIF-67
Soaking the polydopamine-coated ZIF-67 prepared in the step (2) in a PtCl4 solution with the concentration of 0.02mol/L, and reacting for 3 hours under the stirring condition, so that metal Pt is fully complexed on the surface of the polydopamine through coordination bonds;
(4) preparation of PtCo @ NC catalyst
Putting the Pt @ polydopamine-coated ZIF-67 obtained in the step (3) into a tubular furnace, and roasting at 800 ℃ for 6 hours under the protection of nitrogen to obtain the PtCo @ NC catalyst in the embodiment; based on the total weight of the catalyst, the Pt accounts for 12.1wt% of the weight of the catalyst, and the Co accounts for 3.1wt% of the weight of the catalyst
Example 3
A three-electrode system is adopted in the methanol catalytic oxidation experiment. The glassy carbon electrode modified by the catalyst is used as a working electrode, the graphite rod is used as a counter electrode, and the saturated calomel electrode is used as a reference electrode. The specific experimental steps are as follows: preparing electrolyte containing 0.5M sulfuric acid and 1M methanol aqueous solution, and introducing N at constant temperature of 25 DEG C2To remove O in the electrolyte2. Cyclic voltammetric scans were then performed at a sweep rate of 50mV/s over a voltage range of-0.02-1V, with cyclic voltammetric curves as shown in figure 2. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the PtCo @ NC catalyst prepared by the invention has a much higher current density than a commercial Pt/C catalyst, and has a good application prospect.
It will be evident to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the details of the foregoing illustrative embodiments, and that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.
Furthermore, it should be understood that although the present description refers to embodiments, not every embodiment may contain only a single embodiment, and such description is for clarity only, and those skilled in the art should integrate the description, and the embodiments may be combined as appropriate to form other embodiments understood by those skilled in the art.