Lanthanide–Platinum Intermetallic Compounds as Anode Electrocatalysts for Direct Ethanol PEM Fuel Cells

An aqueous route for producing nanopowders of intermetallic compounds is presented. The method was developed to produce powders of and for use as anode electrocatalysts in porous direct ethanol polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell anodes. Powders that are relatively pure with average particle diameters of ca. and specific surface areas of ca. were produced. X-ray powder diffraction patterns were utilized to verify the structure of the product and conduct rudimentary unit cell refinement. Nitrogen adsorption measurements confirmed the specific surface area that was determined from the X-ray diffraction results.