Preparation and characterization of carbon-related materials supports for catalysts of direct methanol fuel cells

In this work, two types of carbon materials such as CBs and GNFs were treated by a fluorination in order to study the effect of surface modification. The carbon-supported platinum (Pt) and ruthenium (Ru) catalysts were prepared using two types of carbon materials to check the influence of the fluorinated carbon supports on the activity of catalysts. The crystalline characteristics of the carbon-supported catalysts were determined by XRD method. Electrochemical properties of the electrocatalysts were analyzed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) experiments. When fluorinated GNFs were used as catalyst supports, the current density obtained in fuel cell was greater than that of CBs-supported catalyst; meaning GNFs-supported catalysts had a higher performance relative to CBs-supported catalysts. These results were supported with the CV results that showed the greater activity for PtRu at higher potentials.