Porous carbon as electrode material in direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) synthesized by the direct carbonization of MOF-5

Inayatali Khan, Amin Badshah, Naghma Haider, Shafiq Ullah, Dalaver H. Anjum, Muhammad Arif Nadeem

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Scopus citations

Abstract

Porous carbon (PC-900) was prepared by direct carbonization of porous metal-organic framework (MOF)-5 (Zn4O(bdc)3, bdc=1,4-benzenedicarboxylate) at 900 °C. The carbon material was deposited with PtM (M=Fe, Ni, Co, and Cu (20 %) metal loading) nanoparticles using the polyol reduction method, and catalysts PtM/PC-900 were designed for direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs). However, herein, we are reporting PtFe/PC-900 catalyst combination which has exhibited superior performance among other options. This catalyst was characterized by powder XRD, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) technique. The electrocatalytic capability of the catalyst for ethanol electrooxidation was investigated using cyclic voltammetry and direct ethanol single cell testing. The results were compared with those of PtFe and Pt supported on Vulcan XC72 carbon catalysts (PFe/CX-72 and Pt/XC-72) prepared via the same method. It has been observed that the catalyst PtFe/PC-900 developed in this work showed an outstanding normalized activity per gram of Pt (6.8 mA/g Pt) and superior power density (121 mW/cm2 at 90 °C) compared to commercially available carbon-supported catalysts. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1545-1555
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Solid State Electrochemistry
Volume18
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 12 2014

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Electrochemistry
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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