(671d) Polyaniline Nanofibers Supported Platinum Electrocatalysts

A novel polyaniline nanofiber supported platinum (Pt) electrocatalyst was developed for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). Polyaniline nanofibers (PaniNFs) with diameter of 60 nm were synthesized by interfacial polymerization without the need for templates or functional dopants. PaniNFs supported Pt nanocatalysts (Pt/PaniNFs) were prepared by an ethylene glycol (EG) reduction method. Pt nanoparticles deposited on the PaniNFs have a smaller diameter of 1.8 nm (by XRD and TEM) and narrower particle size distributions (by TEM) than Pt nanoparticles (2.3 nm) on carbon balck (Pt/C). The Pt/PaniNFs catalyst shows higher electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) and higher catalytic activity for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) than that of the Pt/C, which is a promising candidate for DMFC catalyst.