Effects of pH value on composition structure and catalytic activity of Pt-SnO _x/C prepared by ethylene glycol method

Pt-SnO _x nanoparticles were synthesized by the ethylene glycol (EG) method in solution of H ₂PtCl ₆ and SnCl ₂, with the same concentrations of Pt and Sn, but different pH values. The pH value after the end of platinum reduction reaction was not changed any more, except that a certain amount of water was added to deposit the Pt-SnO _x nanoparticles on the carbon support. The pre-nanocatalysts were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to investigate the contents of Pt and Sn, and their catalytic activities for ethanol electrooxidation were tested by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The result was that the Sn contents were increasing as the Pt/Sn atomic ratios of 2.2, 2.6, 5.1, 7.4, 8.7, with the decreasing end pH values of 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.5, 7.5, and the Pt contents became less than the addition in the preparation solution while the end pH values were <5.5, but the catalytic activities for ethanol electrooxidation were not so much regularly changed. Besides, from the end pH value of 5.5 to the increasing 9.0, all the platinum nanoparticles could be completely deposited on the carbon support, under the condition that only a certain amount of water was added.