Modification of nanostructured carbon based supports for direct methanol fuel cells
Abstract
Palladium (Pd) and Palladium-Ruthenium (Pd-Ru) nanoparticles supported by various carbon
nanomaterials which include graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and multiwalled
carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with their hybrids were prepared in this work. The
synthesized nanoparticles were used as electrocatalysts for direct methanol fuel cell. The graphene
was synthesized by modified Hummer’s method and subsequently, the support materials were
doped with nitrogen using melamine. The electrocatalysts were synthesized using modified polyol
method. The synthesis method of the electrocatalyst was also modified by adjusting the pH of the
electrocatalyst. The structural characterization of all the support materials was carried out using
Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) Technique.