SrFeO3-δ Assisting with Pd Nanoparticles on the Performance of Alcohols Catalytic Oxidation

Current catalysts for the alcohol oxidation in fuel cells (typically noble metals-based) are susceptible to poisoning with intermediates like CO. Hence we decided to find superseded catalysts for methanol oxidation based on incorporation of mixed oxides. In this research, a nano-size perovskite SrFeO3-δ (SrFeO3-δNPs) was synthesized by a rapid co-precipitation method assisted with ultrasonic and characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM and EDX techniques. A modified glassy carbon electrode with Pd nanoparticles (PdNPs) and SrFeO3-δNPs dispersed into the appropriate amount of chitosan (CH) polymer as a multifunctional catalyst was prepared and its catalytic activity toward alcohols (C1 - C3) oxidation was investigated. Based on the electrochemical studies, the PdNPs-SrFeO3-δNPs-CH nanocomposite showed considerable activity for alcohols (C1 - C3) oxidation in comparison to PdNPs-CH and SrFeO3-δNPs-CH. A direct methanol fuel cell was designed, assembled and tested with suggested PdNPs-SrFeO3-δNPs-CH nanocomposite under several different conditions. The effect of experimental parameters (temperature; methanol concentration; flow rate) as well as NaOH concentration) on the electrical performances of the fuel cell were studied and optimized.