Preparation and Characterization of Electrocatalyst Nanoparticles for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Applications Using β-D-glucose as Protection Agent

In this study, the activity, stability and performance of carbon supported platinum (Pt/C) electrocatalyst in cathode and carbon supported Pt and ruthenium (PtRu/C) electrocatalyst in anode of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) were studied. The Pt/C and PtRu/C electrocatalysts were prepared by impregnation reduction method. The β-D-glucose was used as protection agent to reduce the particle size and improve performance of prepared electrocatalysts. The prepared electrocatalysts were characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The results of XRD and TEM showed that the average particle size of metals in prepared electrocatalysts is between 2-3 nm. The cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and chronoamperometry were used to investigate electrooxidation of methanol and electrocatalytic activity of prepared electrocatalysts. The results showed that PtRu/C electrocatalyst has better activity in methanol condition due to its smaller average particle size of nanoparticles, superior activity for methanol oxidation and its higher carbon monoxide (CO) tolerance. The single DMFC cell consisted of protected electrocatalysts exhibited a 28 % increase in the peak power density in room temperature, with the maximum peak power density of 22.13 mW cm-2.