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Evaluation of carbon-supported copper phthalocyanine (CuPc/C) as a cathode catalyst for fuel cells using Nafion as an electrolyte

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Abstract

Carbon-supported copper phthalocyanine (CuPc/C) nanoclusters, as a novel suitable cathode catalyst in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, have been synthesized via a combined solvent impregnation and milling procedure along with high-temperature treatment. For optimizing the electrocatalytic activity of the catalyst obtained, the electrode with varying Nafion ionomer contents in the catalyst layer was screened by cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry employing a rotating disk electrode technique to investigate the effect of Nafion ionomer as for alkaline electrolyte. For comparative purposes, electrode with various contents of available anion-ionomer was also investigated. The results revealed that the content of Nafion ionomer can affect the oxygen reduction reaction activity of the CuPc/C catalyst and an optimal content of Nafion ionomer was around 3.5 × 101 μg cm−2, which corresponds well with the electrode prepared using available anion-ionomer. The electrode prepared using Nafion ionomer can produce a comparable performance to that of using available anion-ionomer, giving an onset potential at 0.1 V with a half-wave potential of −0.03 V. Furthermore, Koutechy–Levich analysis showed that the value of electron transfer number is in the range of 3.40 to 3.74 when using electrode with varying Nafion ionomer contents from 2.5 × 101 to 1.6 × 102 μg cm−2. The membrane electrode assembly fabricated with the CuPc/C cathode catalyst with a loading of 3.6 mg cm−2 and a Nafion membrane immersed in 3 M KOH for 48 h produced a power density of 3.8 mW cm−2 at room temperature.

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Acknowledgments

This work is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21173039), Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education, SRFD (20110075110001), Opening Foundation of Zhejing Provincial Top Key Discipline (20110927), and Environmental Protection Engineering Center for Pollution Treatment and Control in Textile Industry, China (20110927). All financial support is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 Ren’min North Road, Shanghai, 201620, People’s Republic of China

    Lei Ding, Qing Xin, Xianfeng Dai & Jinli Qiao

  2. College of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Zhejiang University of Technology, Zone 6 Chaohui, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310014, People’s Republic of China

    Jian Zhang

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  1. Lei Ding
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  2. Qing Xin
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  3. Xianfeng Dai
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Correspondence to Jinli Qiao.

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Ding, L., Xin, Q., Dai, X. et al. Evaluation of carbon-supported copper phthalocyanine (CuPc/C) as a cathode catalyst for fuel cells using Nafion as an electrolyte. Ionics 19, 1415–1422 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-013-0869-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-013-0869-2

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