Amorphous catalysts based on (NiNb)₉₉(Pt X Y)₁ for DAFC using ethanol and bioethanol as fuels

Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells (DAFC) are considered an attractive option to the utilization of fossil fuels. At the same time, the growing impulse in the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources is gaining a most important role. Platinum is regarded as one of the best catalysts but its cost is high and it shows susceptibility towards CO poisoning. These problems can be minimized using cocatalysts. In this work, ethanol and bioethanol electro-oxidation has been studied using two amorphous tricatalytic alloys: Ni₅₉Nb₄₀Pt_0.6Sn_0.2X_0.2 (X = Pd, Co) as anodes. Tolerance to CO has also been studied. Alloys were prepared by mechanical alloying and characterized by several techniques such as DSC, XRD and SEM. The results show that amorphous catalysts are effective for ethanol as well as for bioethanol electro-oxidation. When comparing the effect of cobalt and tin as cocatalysts, the tests show that cobalt leads to a higher catalytic activity.