Polyaniline/carbon black composite as Pt electrocatalyst supports for methanol oxidation: Synthesis and characterization

Core/shell composites of polyaniline (PANI) and Vulcan XC‐72 Carbon (VC), in which the carbon represents the core and PANI forms the shell, were synthesized by in situ chemical oxidation polymerization. Platinum (Pt) particles were then deposited on the PANI/VC composites by chemical reduction method. The highest conductivity is obtained when a mass ratio of PANI/VC equals to 0.28, as proved by Fourier transform infrared spectra. And it is also proved that there are some reactions happened between PANI and VC. Scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, and X‐ray diffraction measurements were performed to analyze their structure and surface morphology. It has been observed that the Pt particles are smaller in size and more uniformly distributed on these composite supports than on pure VC supports, considered as a reference. Methanol oxidation performed on the electrode modified by such a composite catalyst has been measured by cyclic voltammogram focusing on the attenuation of methanol oxidation current after 200 cycles. The attenuation degree for the composite catalyst is only one‐third of the one measured for a simple Pt/VC catalyst. It is proved that the composite catalyst better resist carbon monoxide poisoning in comparison with the Pt/VC catalyst, which may be due to the synergetic effects between the composite support and the Pt catalyst. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010