Promotion effects of Pr-doped CeO2·H2O to Pt catalysts toward alcohol electrooxidation reaction

Considering that the co-catalyst which are rich in oxygen vacancy and hydroxyl functional groups have an obvious role in improving the activity and durability of Pt-based electrocatalyst, a novel Pr-doped CeO2·H2O cocatalyst (PrxCey(OH)a) has been prepared through a facile one-step hydrothermal method. The substitution of Pr3+ cation for host Ce4+ cation produces oxygen vacancies due to charge compensation effects. Pt/C-Pr1Ce6(OH)a exhibits an outstanding electrochemical oxidation performance with high peak current density of 2587 mA mg−1, 4116 mA mg−1, 2158 mA mg−1 in methanol, ethylene glycol, and glycerol oxidation reaction, respectively. PrxCey(OH)a provides significant co-catalysis effects by comparing with the alcohol electrooxidation performance of Pt/C, which shows a feasible strategy for the rational design of direct alcohol fuel cells catalysts.