Electrocatalytic Activity Investigation of Alloyed PtZrO2/C and PtZrO2/SWCNT Nanoparticels as an anode electro catalyst in DMFC

Direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is a promising power source of technology, but it has not been successfully commercialized yet due to the high cost and low kinetic oxidation. Platinum-based electrocatalysts have been extensively developed as efficient catalysts for both the anode and cathode in DMFC [3 ref]. To improve the electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation, other platinum-supporting materials have been studied as electrode catalyst component of lowtemperature fuel cells [2ref]. Platinum (Pt) is commonly used as the catalyst because of its high electro-catalytic activity [1ref]. Carbon nanotubes are suggested as an ideal anode electrocatalyst supporting material for the practical application of direct methanol fuel cells [ref]. In this study, we reported the electrocatalytic activity of alloyed PtZrO2/V and PtZrO2/SWCNT nanoparticels. A simple approach is planned for a deposition of platinum (pt) nanoparticles onto surfaces of Single-wall carbon nanotube and Vulcan carbon by using NaBH4 as a reducing agent in direct methanol fuel cells. The structural properties and morphologies of all nanocatalysts are fully characterized by using techniques such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and cyclic voltammetry (CV). Cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry measurements indicated that a ratio of PtZrO2/SWCNT (4:1) is an optimum ratio to obtain the best electrocatalytic activity on CNTs-supported alloyed nanoparticles for methanol oxidation reaction.