Investigation of methanol electro-oxidation on graphene supported platinum–tungsten catalyst

The graphene (GR) supported platinum–tungsten (PtW) catalysts with Pt:W molar ratios, equal to 1.6:1, 2.3:1 and 7.1:1, were prepared by a rapid microwave-assisted heating method. The activity of the catalysts was investigated for the electro-oxidation of methanol in an alkaline medium by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA). It has been determined that the rate of methanol oxidation depends on the Pt:W molar ratio in the PtW/GR catalysts. From the CV measurements it follows that the highest current density values, specific and mass activities are obtained for the PtW/GR catalyst with the Pt:W molar ratio equal to 1.6:1. Similarly, the chronoamperometry measurements point to the best performance of the PtW/GR catalyst with the same Pt:W molar ratio. Moreover, in all cases the synthesized PtW/GR catalysts, regardless of different Pt:W molar ratio, show an enhanced electrocatalytic activity towards the direct electro-oxidation of methanol when compared with that for the bare Pt/GR and W/GR catalysts.