Mass-Produced Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes as Catalyst Supports for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

Autor: Morinobu Endo, Sun Hyung Lee, Yong Jung Kim, Sung Moo Song, Ki Chul Park, Hiroyuki Muramatsu, In Young Jang, Yong Chae Jung
Rok vydání: 2011
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. 11:675-680
ISSN: 1533-4880
DOI: 10.1166/jnn.2011.3229
Popis: Commercially mass-produced multi-walled carbon nanotubes, i.e., VGNF (Showa Denko Co.), were applied to support materials for platinum-ruthenium (PtRu) nanoparticles as anode catalysts for direct methanol fuel cells. The original VGNFs are composed of high-crystalline graphitic shells, which hinder the favorable surface deposition of the PtRu nanoparticles that are formed via borohydride reduction. The chemical treatment of VGNFs with potassium hydroxide (KOH), however, enables highly dispersed and dense deposition of PtRu nanoparticles on the VGNF surface. This capability becomes more remarkable depending on the KOH amount. The electrochemical evaluation of the PtRu-deposited VGNF catalysts showed enhanced active surface areas and methanol oxidation, due to the high dispersion and dense deposition of the PtRu nanoparticles. The improvement of the surface deposition states of the PtRu nanoparticles was significantly due to the high surface area and mesorporous surface structure of the KOH-activated VGNFs.
Databáze: OpenAIRE