Fluorine-tin oxide (FTO) electrode modified with platinum nanoparticles dispersed into montmorillonite clay as an effective and low cost catalyst for ethanol electrooxidation

This work demonstrates the use of montmorillonite (MMT) clay minerals as an effective and low cost catalyst support for Pt nanoparticles for electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol molecules. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy were employed for the morphological study of the modified catalyst layers. The SEM images indicate that the platinum nanoparticles are dispersed in a homogeneous arrangement on a MMT matrix and the EDX spectrum confirms the presence of the Pt element. The results obtained from cyclic voltammetry measurements show that the FTO/MMT/Pt electrode is catalytically more active for electrooxidation of ethanol molecules than the FTO/Pt electrode. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis and chronoamperometric measurements confirmed this result and the Tafel plots indicate better kinetics for ethanol electrooxidation in the presence of montmorillonite natural clays. The effect of some experimental factors such as the amount of MMT and Pt nanoparticles and the ethanol concentration were studied and the optimum conditions were obtained for electrooxidation of ethanol molecules using the FTO/MMT/Pt electrode.