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.