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Ni/Pd-Decorated Carbon NFs as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for Methanol Oxidation in Alkaline Medium

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Abstract

In this study, Ni/Pd-decorated carbon nanofibers (NFs) were fabricated as an electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation. These NFs were synthesized based on carbonization of poly(vinyl alcohol), which has high carbon content compared to many polymers used to prepare carbon NFs. Typically, calcination of an electrospun mat composed of nickel acetate, palladium acetate, and poly(vinyl alcohol) can produce Ni/Pd-doped carbon NFs. The introduced NFs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, line TEM energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and x-ray powder diffraction. These physicochemical characterizations are acceptable tools to investigate the crystallinity and chemistry of the fabricated Ni/Pd-carbon NFs. Accordingly, the prepared NFs were tested to enhance the economic and catalytic behavior of methanol electrooxidation. Experimentally, the obtained onset potential was small compared to many reported materials; 0.32 V (versus Ag/AgCl as a reference electrode). At the same time, the current density changed from 5.08 mA/cm2 in free methanol at 0.6 V to 12.68 mA/cm2 in 0.1 mol/L methanol, which can be attributed to the MeOH oxidation. Compared to nanoparticles, the NFs have a distinct effect on the electrocatalytic performance of material due to the effect of the one-dimensional structure, which facilitates the electron transfer. Overall, the presented work opens a new way for non-precious one-dimensional nanostructured catalysts for direct methanol fuel cell technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bionanosystem Engineering Department, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, 561-756, Republic of Korea

    Ibrahim M. A. Mohamed, Hamouda M. Mousa & Nasser A. M. Barakat

  2. Mechanical Engineering Department, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh, 11421, Saudi Arabia

    Khalil Abdelrazek Khalil

  3. Materials Engineering and Design Department, Aswan University, Aswan, Egypt

    Khalil Abdelrazek Khalil

  4. Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Minia University, El-Minia, Egypt

    Nasser A. M. Barakat

  5. Department of Engineering Materials and Mechanical Design, Faculty of Engineering, South Valley University, Qena, 83523, Egypt

    Hamouda M. Mousa

Authors
  1. Ibrahim M. A. Mohamed
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  2. Khalil Abdelrazek Khalil
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  3. Hamouda M. Mousa
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  4. Nasser A. M. Barakat
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Correspondence to Nasser A. M. Barakat.

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Mohamed, I.M.A., Khalil, K.A., Mousa, H.M. et al. Ni/Pd-Decorated Carbon NFs as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for Methanol Oxidation in Alkaline Medium. J. Electron. Mater. 46, 265–273 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-4900-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-4900-z

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