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IN THIS STUDY, MORE THAN 100 ARTICLES RELATED TO ANODE CATALYSTS FOR THE DIRECT METHANOL FUEL CELL (DMFC) ARE REVIEWED, MAINLY FOCUSING ON THE THREE MOST ACTIVE AREAS: 1. PROGRESS IN PREPARATION METHODS OF PT–RU CATALYSTS WITH RESPECT TO ACTIVITY IMPROVEMENT AND UTILIZATION OPTIMIZATION, 2. PREPARATION OF NOVEL CARBON MATERIALS AS CATALYST SUPPORTS TO CREATE HIGHLY DISPERSED AND STABLY SUPPORTED CATALYSTS, 3. EXPLORATION OF NEW CATALYSTS WITH LOW NOBLE METAL CONTENT AND NON-NOBLE METAL ELEMENTS THROUGH FAST ACTIVITY METHODS SUCH AS COMBINATORIAL METHODS. SUGGESTED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R& D) DIRECTIONS FOR NEW DMFC (ANODE CATALYSIS) ARE ALSO DISCUSSED.IN THIS STUDY, WE INVESTIGATE THE INFLUENCE OF PT: RU ATOMIC RATIO ON THE ELECTROCHEMICAL ACTIVITY OF PTRU/CARBON NANOTUBE (CNT) CATALYSTS IN THE ELECTROOXIDATION OF METHANOL.BIMETALLIC PTRU ALLOY NANOPARTICLES WERE EMBEDDED ONTO THE CNTS BY CHEMICAL IMPREGNATION, FOLLOWED BY THE REFLUXING OF ETHYLENE GLYCOL. FOUR TYPES OF CATALYSTS, NAMELY PT100RU0, PT75RU25, PT50RU50, AND PT25RU75, WERE SYNTHESIZED FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF THE COMPOSITIONAL EFFECT. THE CRYSTALLINE SIZE OF PTRU NANOCATALYSTS GENERALLY DECREASED WITH THE RU ATOMIC RATIO, I.E., FROM 4.34 TO 2.77 NM. THE MEASUREMENT OF ELECTROOXIDATION OF METHANOL WAS CARRIED OUT IN 1 M H2SO4 ELECTROLYTE CONTAINING 0.5 M CH3OH WITH PTRU/CNT, CATALYSTS USING CYCLIC VOLTAMMETRY (CV) AND AC ELECTROCHEMICAL IMPEDANCE SPECTROSCOPY (EIS). CV ANALYSIS REVEALED THAT THE PT50RU50/CNT ELECTRODE HAD THE HIGHEST ELECTROCHEMICAL ACTIVITY, OWING TO ITS LOWER ONSET POTENTIAL AND HIGHER RATIO OF THE FORWARD TO REVERSE ANODIC PEAK CURRENT. EIS COMBINED WITH EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT REFLECTED THAT AFTER CYCLING, PT50RU50/CNT ELECTRODE HAS NOT ONLY A MUCH LOWER CHARGE-TRANSFER RESISTANCE, BUT ALSO HIGHER CAPACITANCE THAN PT100RU0/CNT. THIS ENHANCEMENT OF ELECTROCHEMICAL ACTIVITY CAN BE ASCRIBED TO THE PRESENCE OF PT-RU ATOMIC PAIR SITES IN THE BIMETALLIC ALLOYS, WHICH PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN REGENERATING THE INACTIVE PT-COADS SITES, ACCORDING TO THE BIFUNCTIONAL THEORY.

POLYANILINE FIBERS (PANI) WERE SYNTHESIZED BY CHEMICAL INTERFACIAL METHOD AND DOPED WITH PARA TOLUENE SULFONIC ACID. THE DOPED PANI WAS UTILIZED FOR THE FABRICATION OF A VULCAN-POLYANILINE COMPOSITE (C-PANI). PT AND SN PARTICLES WERE SUBSEQUENTLY DEPOSITED BY REDUCTION ONTO THE CPANI COMPOSITE TO PRODUCE A PTSN (70: 30) /C-PANI ELECTROCATALYST. CATALYTIC ACTIVITY OF THIS ELECTROCATALYST IS COMPARED WITH PTRU/C. CYCLIC VOLTAMETTRY STUDIES IN METHANOL OXIDATION REACTION (MOR) SHOW THAT THE PEAK CURRENT DENSITY OF PTSN (8: 2) /C-20%PANI IS ABOUT 40% MORE THAN PTRU/C AND ITS ONSET POTENTIAL IS ABOUT 100 MV LESSER. ACCORDING TO CO STRIPPING TEST, PTSN (70: 30) /C-20%PANI IS MORE CO TOLERANT AND IT CAN BE THE MAIN REASON OF ITS BETTER CATALYTIC ACTIVITY IN MOR. ALSO, DURABILITY IN THE MOR HAS BEEN EVALUATED BY ACCELERATED DURABILITY TEST AND IT WAS SHOWN THAT STABILITY OF PTSN (70: 30) /C-PANI IS CONSIDERABLY MORE THAN PTRU/C ULTIMATELY, THE PTSN (70: 30) /C-20%PANI ELECTROCATALYST IS A GOOD SUBSTITUTION FOR PTRU/C IN A DIRECT METHANOL FUEL CELL.