METHOD FOR MAKING TERNARY ALLOY, FUEL CELL CATALYSTS

摘要

An improved ternary noble metal-containing, alloy catalyst which has a catalytic activity for the electrochemical reduction of oxygen greater than two and one-half times that of the supported unalloyed noble metal alone. In addition, a disclosure of the method of preparing said catalyst is by intimately contacting two metallic elements with a supported noble metal, then heating this material to form the ternary alloy catalyst. This catalyst has particular utility for the electrochemical reduction of oxygen which makes it particularly useful as a cathode in acid fuel cells. The preferred embodiment of this catalyst is finely divided platinum alloyed with chromium and cobalt supported on an electrically conductive carbon-black support material.