Abstract:

This paper deals with the effects of some preparation factors, such as the pretreatment of carbon support, the preparation conditions, the reduction temperature and the initial pH value, on the properties of catalysts prepared via the organic colloidal method. Experimental results show that the heat pretreatment of carbon support at a suitable temperature, especially at the optimal value of 300 ℃ , greatly enhances the dispersion of active components and the performance of the catalyst, that the catalyst prepared in nitrogen atmosphere behaves better performances than that prepared in air atmosphere, that a low reduction temperature benefits the preparation of high-dispersion catalyst, that the catalyst prepared over the optimal reduction temperature （140 ℃ ） shows a slight activity decline, and that the optimal initial pH value is about 11. It is thus demonstrated that the Pt/C catalyst prepared at the optimal conditions possesses higher electrochemical activity for the oxidation of methanol, as compared with the commercial Pt/C catalyst.

Key words: organic colloid method, direct methanol fuel cell, catalyst