Presentation of anodic electrocatalyst for polymeric fuel cell: Pt nanoparticles immobilized on NdFeO3 nanocrystals and carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Current catalysts for the methanol oxidation in fuel cells (typically noble metals-based) are susceptible to poisoning with intermediates like CO. Hence superseded catalysts have been desirable for methanol oxidation based on incorporation of mixed oxides. The different types of nanocomposites have been prepared with Pt nanoparticles (PtNPs), functionalized CNTs, perovskite NdFeO₃ nanoparticles (NdFeO₃NPs) and chitosan (CH) polymer and their catalytic activity toward methanol oxidation have been investigated by the electrochemical studies. The equations of current density versus time are obtained via the fitting and simulation of experimental data. In the following, the amount of transferred charge during methanol oxidation versus time has been calculated through the lower Riemann sum of curve correspond to experimental data and the integration of mentioned equations both. A direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is designed, assembled and tested with the suggested PtNPs-CNTs-NdFeO₃NPs-CH nanocomposites as an anodic catalyst at variety conditions. The effect of experimental factors on DMFC performances has been investigated and optimized.