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Synthesis of AuxCo100 − x/MWCNT nanoparticles as an efficient anode electrocatalyst for borohydride oxidation in alkaline medium

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Abstract

In this paper, we report the successful synthesis of multiwalled carbon nanotubes supported by gold-cobalt (AuxCo100 − x/MWCNT) nanoparticles to develop a novel electrocatalyst for anodic application in direct borohydride fuel cells. X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy are employed to examine the crystalline structure, chemical composition and morphology of the prepared electrocatalysts. Cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and chronoamperometry tests are used for electrocatalytic characterizations of developed electrocatalysts. Using AuxCo100 − x/MWCNT electrocatalyst, the fundamental kinetics parameters of electrocatalytic performance (current density, exchanged electrons number and apparent activation energy) for borohydride electrooxidation are investigated. Results reveal that among all bimetallic electrocatalysts, the Au74Co26/MWCNT electrocatalyst exhibits the highest specific activity (24.15 mA.cm− 2) and Au49Co51/MWCNT shows the highest mass activity (1127.03 mA.mg− 1) for \({BH}_{4}^{-}\) electrooxidation. The lowest apparent activation energy (8.22 kJmol− 1) and smallest charge transfer resistance (134.9 Ω) suggest the best electrocatalytic activity of Au74Co26/MWCNT electrocatalyst toward borohydride oxidation. The exchanged electron number for the Au74Co26/MWCNT electrocatalyst for borohydride electrooxidation at \(303 \text{K}\)is estimated as 4.70.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the centre of excellence (COE), NIT Durgapur, for the FESEM facility.

Funding

The authors acknowledge the DST&BT project (Project no. 326(Sanc.)/ST/P/S&T 16G-21/2018), Govt. of West Bengal, for financial support during this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, 713209, India

    Chandan Kumar Raul, Santanu Dey, Riju Karmakar, Soumen Basu & Ajit Kumar Meikap

  2. Department of Basic Science and Humanities, Abacus Institute of Engineering and Management, Mogra, Hooghly, 712148, India

    Monalisa Halder

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Contributions

CKR: Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing—original draft, Validation. SD: Resources, Formal analysis, Validation. MH: Writing—original draft, Validation. RK: Resources, Validation. SB: Resources, Validation AKM: Supervision, Conceptualization, Methodology, Visualization, Validation, Project administration.

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Correspondence to Ajit Kumar Meikap.

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Raul, C.K., Dey, S., Halder, M. et al. Synthesis of AuxCo100 − x/MWCNT nanoparticles as an efficient anode electrocatalyst for borohydride oxidation in alkaline medium. J Appl Electrochem 53, 977–990 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-022-01824-5

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