Nanostructured Polyaniline: An Efficient Support Matrix for Platinum-Ruthenium Anode Catalyst in Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

摘要

The quest for an efficient catalyst support material for improved deposition of electrocatalyst nanaoparticles towards application in methanol oxidation reaction has been an active field of research for last few decades. The use of highly expensive, although efficient, platinum-ruthenium (Pt-Ru) catalyst demands its minimum loading requirement and maximum utilization. We, herein, propose the potentiality of polyaniline (PAni) nanostructures-based catalyst support materials towards this utilization aspect. It was realized that the PAni nanowhiskers (NWs) support exhibited better dispersion and higher utilization of the deposited Pt-Ru nanoparticles, as compared to the PAni nanofibers (NFs) and the commercial Vulcan carbon (C) supports. This led to the exhibition of higher electrocatalytic activity, suppressed catalyst poisoning and better stability by the Pt-Ru/PAni NWs catalyst system. The charge transfer rates of the catalyst systems were found to be in the order Pt-Ru/PAni NWs Pt-Ru/PAniNFs Pt-Ru/C. Moreover, the Pt-Ru/PAni NWs catalyst system demonstrated the lowest solution resistance and the best performance in a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC).