A facile chemical reduction method for synthesis of platinum–iron catalysts on carbon fiber papers for methanol oxidation

To enhance catalytic activity and durability for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR), we have fabricated bimetallic Pt–Fe catalysts on carbon fiber papers (denoted as Pt–Fe@CFP) by a facile chemical reduction method using iron as the precursor, ascorbic acid and sodium hypophosphite as the reductants, respectively. When ascorbic acid is using as the reductant, the Pt–Fe@CFP catalysts are composed of platinum and disordered Pt–Fe phases. The atomic ratio between Pt and Fe can be adjusted by altering deposition conditions. The Pt–Fe@CFP catalysts with Pt/Fe ratio of 1.1, which deposited with surfactant CTAB in bath at room temperature, exhibit excellent catalytic activity and stability in MOR. However, when sodium hypophosphite is employed as the reductant, the co-deposition of phosphorus would lead to a decreased catalytic performance in MOR.