Development of Pluri-Metallic Electrocatalysts for Methanol Electro-Oxidation in Low Temperature Fuel Cell

This research work involves exploring a novel method to compare the electrocatalytic behaviors of single Pd and binary compositions of Co, Ni, and Sn combined with Pd, all supported on Multi-Walled Carbon Nano Tubes (MWCNTs), as potential anode materials for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFCs). The electrocatalysts were synthesized by the impregnation-reduction method from the precursor salts using Sodium Borohydride as a reducing agent and their structure, surface morphology was characterized by using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy study. Kinetic investigation on electro-oxidation was done through various electrochemical techniques such as Cyclic Voltammetry (CV), Linear Sweep Voltammetry (LSV) and Chronoamperometry (CA) technique. All the analyses determine the fundamental relationship between the catalyst’s structure, composition, and catalytic activity toward the Methanol Oxidation Reaction (MOR). From the outcome of those analysis frames, it appears that the C/Pd50Ni50 catalyst promotes maximum catalytic activity toward electro-oxidation reaction consequences of electronic effect and bifunctional effect, as it contributes significantly to CO removal and dehydrogenation of methanol.