In situ functionalisation of mesoporous carbon electrodes with carbon nanotubes for proton exchange membrane fuel-cell application

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• 作者：Leila Samiee ; Fatemeh Shoghi ; Akram Maghsodi
• 关键词：Composite materials ; Nanostructures ; Chemical synthesis ; Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) ; Electrochemical techniques ; Electrochemical properties
• 刊名：Materials Chemistry and Physics
• 出版年：14 February, 2014
• 年：2014
• 卷：143
• 期：3
• 页码：1228-1235
• 全文大小：2169 K

文摘

In the work presented here, an attempt is made to study the effect of different carbon supports on the mesostructural properties as well as electrochemical behaviour of Pt/carbon supports.

In this respect, the functionalised samples have been synthesised by using CMK-3, nickelocene as nickel source and the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) process for growth of carbon nanotubes. The platinum catalysts (Pt 20聽wt.%) were obtained through a conventional wet impregnation method. All the materials have been characterised by XRD (small- and high-) angle, N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy.

The results showed that the mesostructural structure had been partially destroyed by functionalisation of CMK-3 with NiO and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Moreover, wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXRD) studies revealed the formation of smaller platinum crystallite sizes compared to Vulcan-supported samples. Furthermore, electrochemical evaluation indicates that CMK-3-CNT-20Pt gives a specific surface area of 58.9聽m²聽g^鈭?. Finally, the polarisation curves for the fabricated membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) with Pt loading of 0.5聽mg聽cm^鈭? demonstrated that the CMK-3-CNT-20Pt catalyst shows better performance than industrial catalysts and even Vulcan-40% Pt.