Enhanced methanol oxidation activity of porous layered Ni/CeO2@CN nanocomposites in alkaline medium

The performance of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) partly depends on the development of economical and efficient methanol oxidation catalyst. Here, porous layered Ni/CeO 2 @CN-T composites were prepared by complexation and pyrolysis two-step methods. The optimal Ni/CeO 2 @CN-600 for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) requires only 1.361 V at the current density (j) of 10 mA cm −2 , and the j is as high as 229.56 mA cm −2 at 1.642 V, superior to those of the nickel-based catalysts reported. The excellent properties of Ni/CeO 2 @CN-600 are mainly attributed to the electronic interaction between Ni and CeO 2 , the uniform dispersion of Ni and CeO 2 nanoparticles and its porous layered structure. Meanwhile, it has better stability after 12 h i-t tests. The CO poisoning experiments showed that the anti-CO poisoning ability of Ni/CeO 2 @CN-600 was obviously stronger than that of Pt/C catalyst in alkaline medium. Finally, the density functional theory (DFT) calculation shows the superior activity of Ni/CeO 2 catalysts for MOR is mainly attributed to the higher adsorption energy of Ni/CeO 2 for CH 3 OH and the lower energy barrier.