Electrospinning Synthesis and Electrocatalytic Performance of Cobalt oxide/Carbon Nanofibers Nanocomposite Based PVA for Fuel Cell Applications

摘要

This work concerns carbon nanofibers (CNF) as a material support to prepare nanocompositeelectrode, and to use such electrode for fuel cell application. The nanocomposite electrode wasproduced by electrospinning mixtures of cobalt nitrate with aqueous solutions of polyvinyl alcohol(PVA) followed by high-temperature annealing process. As a result, Cobalt oxide nanoparticles havebeen formed and incorporated within carbon nanofibers. Conductivity, capacitance and theelectrocatalytic activities of the produced nanocomposite have been studied using cyclic voltammetry,and chronoamperometry. Produced materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD),thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and scanning- electron microscopy (SEM), which revealed that nanofibers in the range of 20000 nm. The highconducting, and capacitance of the produced nanocomposite are related to the complete transfer ofelectrospun PVA fiber to active carbon nanofibers, and the presence of well dispersed Cobalt oxidenanoparticle, which lead to the enhancement of connectivity and the electrochemical utilization ofpristine CNF during the charge/discharge process. On the other hand, the low electrocatalytic activityof the prepared electrodes towards methanol oxidation reaction can be attributed to the presence ofnanostructure Cobalt oxide within the frame structure of carbon nanofibers, in addition to thecomplete absence of platinum materials. Therefore, based on the above investigations, carbonnanofibers composite electrode can be a potential candidate for a high-performance electrodesupporting materials in fuel cells.