Carbon Nanofibre Modified Platinum Nanomaterials: Synthesis, Characterization and Their Applications toward C1 to C3 Alcohols for Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells

Abstract

Innovations in fuel cells bring important developments in obtaining energy. Especially with the anodic reactions of fuel cells and the catalysts used in the anodic part, it provides an increase in energy efficiency. With this study, modification of durable and high catalytic activity targeted carbon nanofibers (CNFs) with Platinum nanostructures (CNF@Pt) developed for alcohol oxidation was provided. Further, CNF@Pt was characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). According to Debye Scherrer, the crystalline particle size was approximately 2.27 nm, and the CNF diameter was measured as 161.57 nm according to the TEM results. Besides, the anodic reactions of methanol, ethanol, and 2-Propanol for direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFC) were investigated. Cyclic Voltammetry (CV), Chronoamperimetry (CA), and recycling performance tests were demonstrated in ideal operating rates of the catalyst. One of the highest anodic peak currents were measured as 145.43, 101.56, and 34.54 mA.cm^− 2 for methanol, ethanol, and 2-propanol at a scanning speed of 50 mV/s, respectively. The CNF@Pt catalyst was also very stable and durable in stability tests. In this study, it has been seen that carbon-based fiber materials are an ideal catalyst to increase efficiency in fuel cells and to make sense of the results obtained in their use in different alcohol types.