Structure, Morphology and Catalytic Activity of PtRu/RGO Prepared by Different Processes

Abstract:

With the aim of developing an active catalyst for a direct methanol fuel cell and its preparation process, PtRu supported on reduced graphene oxide (RGO), PtRu/RGO, was prepared by three different processes using RGO with different sizes, i.e., large and small. The first process (A) involves the drying of RGO, the second one (B) does not involve the drying, and the third one (P) also does goes not involve the drying but goes through a polydopamine modification. (A) results in large agglomerates of RGO due to stacking and PtRu also formed agglomerates of nanoparticles on the outer surface of the RGO agglomerates. (B) resulted in a low Pt utilization due to the stacking of RGO. (P) improved its ECSA, Pt utilization and mass activity due to the modification that allows a homogeneous and small size PtRu deposition on the RGO. However, a problem with the modification that reduce the positive interaction between PtRu and RGO was also suggested. A smaller RGO was preferred in (P), but not in (A) and (B).

• Periodical: Advanced Engineering Forum (Volume 38)
• Pages: 38-46
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AEF.38.38
• Online since: November 2020
• Authors: Kenta Dejima, Hirokazu Ishitobi, Nobuyoshi Nakagawa*
• Keywords: Electrode Catalyst, Methanol Oxidation Reaction, Micro-Structure, Preparation Process, Reduced Graphene Oxide

References

[1] E. Antolini, Graphene as a new carbon support for low-temperature fuel cell catalysts, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 123–124 (2012) 52–68.

DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2012.04.022

[2] B. Y. Xia, Y. Yan, X. Wang, and X. W. Lou, Recent progress on graphene-based hybrid electrocatalysts, Mater. Horizons 1 (2014) 379–399.

DOI: 10.1039/c4mh00040d

[3] F. Yang et al., Reduced graphene oxide supported Pd-Cu-Co trimetallic catalyst: synthesis, characterization and methanol electrooxidation properties, J. Energy Chem. 29 (2019) 72–78.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jechem.2018.02.007

[4] S. Bong et al., Graphene supported electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation, Electrochem. commun. 12 (2010) 129–131.

[5] L. I. Şanli, V. Bayram, B. Yarar, S. Ghobadi, and S. A. Gürsel, Development of graphene supported platinum nanoparticles for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells: Effect of support type and impregnation-reduction methods, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 41 (2016) 3414–3427.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.12.166

[6] L. Zhao et al., Facile one-pot synthesis of Pt/graphene-TiO2 hybrid catalyst with enhanced methanol electrooxidation performance, J. Power Sources 279 (2015) 210–217.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2015.01.023

[7] H. Wang, B. A. Kakade, T. Tamaki, and T. Yamaguchi, Synthesis of 3D graphite oxide-exfoliated carbon nanotube carbon composite and its application as catalyst support for fuel cells, J. Power Sources 260 (2014) 338–348.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2014.03.014

[8] D. Parviz, Z. Yu, S. Verkhoturov, M. J. Green, and R. C. Hedden, Gradient films of pristine graphene/pyrene-functional copolymers with Janus electrical properties, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 8 (2016) 31813–31821.

DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b09646

[9] S. P. Economopoulos, G. Rotas, Y. Miyata, H. Shinohara, and N. Tagmatarchis, Exfoliation and Chemical Modification, ACS Nano 4 (2010) 7499–7507 (2010).

DOI: 10.1021/nn101735e

[10] S. Themsirimongkon, K. Ounnunkad, and S. Saipanya, Electrocatalytic enhancement of platinum and palladium metal on polydopamine reduced graphene oxide support for alcohol oxidation, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 530 (2018) 98–112.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2018.06.072

[11] A. Pinithchaisakula, S. Themsirimongkon, N. Promsawan, P. Weankeaw, K. Ounnunkad, and S. Saipanya, An Investigation of a Polydopamine-Graphene Oxide Composite as a Support for an Anode Fuel Cell Catalyst, Electrocatalysis 8 (2017) 36–45.

DOI: 10.1007/s12678-016-0338-6

[12] K. Qu, Y. Zheng, S. Dai, and S. Z. Qiao, Polydopamine-graphene oxide derived mesoporous carbon nanosheets for enhanced oxygen reduction, Nanoscale 7 (2015) 2598–12605.

DOI: 10.1039/c5nr03089g

[13] Y. Noh et al., Exploring the effects of the size of reduced graphene oxide nanosheets for Pt-catalyzed electrode reactions, Nanoscale 7 (2015) 9438–9442.

DOI: 10.1039/c5nr01713k

[14] H. Kunitomo, H. Ishitobi, and N. Nakagawa, Optimized CeO2 content of the carbon nanofiber support of PtRu catalyst for direct methanol fuel cells, J. Power Sources 297 (2015) 400–407.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2015.07.002

[15] M.-S. Loffler, H. Natter, R. Hempelmann, K. Wippermann, Preparation and characterisation of Pt–Ru model electrodes for the direct methanol fuel cell, Electrochim. Acta 48 (2003) 3047-3051.

DOI: 10.1016/s0013-4686(03)00375-x