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Abstract
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In this paper, bimetallic platinum-Iron nanoparticles electrocatalyst was prepared by a two-step
procedure: (I) the CCE was produced by using sol-gel technique and (II) platinum-Iron nanoparticles alloy
was precipitated electrochemically on the surface of CCE and the resulting electrode was referred as Pt-
Fe/CCE. The obtained catalyst (Pt-Fe/CCE) was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energydispersive
X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and cyclic voltammetry. The electrocatalytic activity of
the Pt-Fe/CCE towards the electrooxidation of the methanol and formic acid was evaluated by cyclic
voltammetric technique in 0.1 M of H2SO4 solution. It was found that the Pt-Fe/CCE was catalytically
more active than Pt nanoparticles (alone) supported on the same substrate. The obtained results also
showed that the presence of Fe greatly enhances the activity of the Pt toward the electrooxidation of
methanol and formic acid. Moreover, it contributes to reduce the amount of the noble metal in the anode
of DLFCs, which remains one of the challenges to make the technology of DLFCs economically viable.
Finally, the effect of some experimental factors was studied and optimum conditions were suggested. The
long-term stability of nanoparticles electrocatalyst has also been studied.
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