Ethanol electrooxidation on Pt/C catalysts promoted with praseodymium oxide nanorods

The Pt/C electrocatalysts containing Pr6O11 nanorods were successfully prepared. By various electrochemical characterization methods, it was demonstrated that the Pr6O11 nanorods have an obviously promotive role for ethanol electrooxidation catalyzed by Pt/C. However, according to the stripping experiment, the promotive effect of Pr6O11 does not result from the easier electrooxidation of the intermediate adsorbate on Pt-Pr6O11/C than on Pt/C. It was supposed that Pr6O11 could promote a certain step in ethanol oxidation, and that the special morphology of the nanorods could further enhance the activity compared with nanoparticles.