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Deisly Mildred López RosasPh.D. student (Nanotechnology)Instituto Tecnológico de Tijuana, México |
Featured Talk
Synthesis of nanostructured electrocatalysts with application in fuel cells
Abstract
Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are a promising technology solution for reliable and clean energy. However, high cost and insufficient durability are considerable drawbacks. Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a kind of essential reaction involved in fuel cells. The development of electrocatalysts plays a vital role in the electrocatalytic reactions involved in these devices, because the catalyst determines the overall reaction efficiency, durability and cost. Platinum based materials are the first choice as the electrocatalyts in fuel cells due to their excellent activity and stability in harsh environments. Nevertheless, the extremely high cost, scarcity of resource as well as declining activity are detrimental to extensively applications. Thus searching of low-cost and highly active non-precious metal catalysts for ORR is highly needed.
In this work is report a simple two step method for preparing bimetallic Pt-Fe/NTC electrocatalysts. Firstly, Fe nanoparticles were deposited over NTC by micro-emulsion method to synthesize Fe/NTC. In a second step the Fe/NTC electrocatalyst is immersed in an ultrasonic bath of an aqueous solution containing Pt to form a bimetallic Pt-Fe/NTC electrocatalyst by galvanic replacement reaction. The catalysts were characterized by SEM-FE, TGA and electrochemical methods.