A Pt–Co ₃ O ₄ –CD electrocatalyst with enhanced electrocatalytic performance and resistance to CO poisoning achieved by carbon dots and Co ₃ O ₄ for direct methanol fuel cells

Highly efficient electrocatalysts remain huge challenges in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). Here, a Pt–Co3O4–CDs/C composite was fabricated as an anode electrocatalyst with low Pt content (12 wt%) by using carbon dots (CDs) and Co3O4 nanoparticles as building blocks. The Pt–Co3O4–CDs/C composite catalyst shows a significantly enhanced electrocatalytic activity (1393.3 mA mg−1 Pt), durability (over 4000 s) and CO-poisoning tolerance. The superior catalytic activity should be attributed to the synergistic effect of CDs, Pt and Co3O4. Furthermore, the Pt–Co3O4–CDs/C catalyst was integrated into a single cell, which exhibits a maximum power density of 45.6 mW cm−2, 1.7 times the cell based on the commercial 20 wt% Pt/C catalyst.