Synthesis of supported gold nanocatalysts and evaluation of catalytic activity towards alcohols electro-oxidation

Abstract

Alcohol electro-oxidation reactions are very important in the area of fuel cells, as there is a great interest in the development of so-called Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells (DAFCs), in which alcohol is used directly as fuel. Nanoparticulate gold has shown a high catalytic activity for numerous reactions in the area of heterogeneous catalysis, however, in electrocatalysis, there is no sufficient systematic studies to assess the importance of this metal in reactions of interest in the field of fuel cells. The synthesis of supported gold nanocatalysts is complicated, because gold tends to agglomerate, forming relatively large particles (above 10 nm).In this sense, we propose to study the synthesis of supported gold nanocatalysts that lead to obtaining nanoparticles with narrow size distribution and homogeneously distributed on the support. Initially, the methods of synthesis by microemulsion and in the presence of citrate will be tested. The materials will be prepared and characterized physically and electrochemical, catalytic activity will be evaluated towards the reactions of electro-oxidation of methanol and ethanol.(AU)