Work

Glancing Angle Deposited Pt Nanorod Array Electrocatalysts for Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: The catalytic activity of vertically aligned platinum nanorod arrays for ethanol electrooxidation has been evaluated utilizing cyclic voltammetry (CV) in 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 and 0.5 M ethanol electrolyte at room temperature. The Pt nanorods electrodes were grown using a magnetron sputtering glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique at different lengths (400 ad 600 nm long). The x-ray diffraction and SEM results reveal that that Pt nanorod are well-isolated, single crystal, and mainly oriented in Pt(100) which has the highest activity for ethanol adsorption and electrooxidation. The CV results show that the forward anodic current density ( I f ) to the reverse anodic peak current density ( I b ) ratio is calculated to be 4.8 and 7.2 for 400 and 600 nm Pt nanorods, respectively, while it is around 2.5 for a commercial high-surface-area-supported Pt (Pt/C) catalyst. Such high ratio for Pt nanorods electrocatalysts reflects the enhanced tolerance to the accumulation of carbonaceous species; a larger quantity of intermediate carbonaceous species is converted (oxidized) to CO 2 in the forward scan compared to Pt/C, thus significantly enhancing the electrode electroactivity.

Source: International Journal of Electrochemical Science

DOI: 10.20964/2017.11.43

Authors: Wisam J. Khudhayer, Ali S. Allw, Mohammed D. Salman, Tansel Karabacak

Institutions: University of Babylon, Thi Qar University, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Language: English

Topic: Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion

Subfield: Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Field: Energy

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Affordable and clean energy

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,670