Biomass Derived Activated Carbon As Better Support on Pt for Improved Electrocatalytic Activity Towards Methanol Oxidation Reaction

Suitable supports for Pt are needed for high activity and stability of fuel cells. Carbon-based materials are the preferable supports that help in good dispersion and hence in better utilization of Pt nanoparticles. Vulcan carbon XC-72 (VC XC-72) is widely used as support on Pt in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). However, the electrocatalytic corrosion of VC XC-72 is an obstacle for commercializing DMFCs. Biomass-derived carbon materials are of great interest in energy storage and conversion devices. In the present work, biochar (BC) derived from teak wood by pyrolysis was activated through the dry-KOH method. The activated BC materials (Act-BC) and Act-BC supported Pt nanoparticles (Pt/Act-BC) prepared through microwave polyol-assisted reflux method were characterized by physicochemical and electrochemical techniques. The prepared Act-BC, having high surface area (1135 m²/g), helps in the high dispersion of Pt nano catalyst compared to the Vulcan carbon (250 m²/g). Interestingly as compared to the commercial Pt/C catalyst, Pt/Act-BC shows superior electrocatalytic activity towards methanol oxidation reaction in terms of specific activity, mass activity, stability, durability, and CO tolerance even with the same amount of Pt. Hence the green and ubiquitous biomass materials can be promising candidates to be used as support on Pt for high-performance direct methanol fuel cells. The study contributes toward the new approach for using cheaper and readily available teak wood carbon precursor to derive alternative carbon support on Pt for anode catalyst in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs).

References

1. A. Prithi, R Shanmugam, Malaya K. Sahoo, N. Rajalakshmi, G. Ranga Rao, Int. J Hydrogen Energy, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.08.183