Electrochemical studies and electrocatalytic applications of Zirconia-Polyaniline nanocomposite

Abstract

• Ethanol and formic acid oxidation. • Electrocatalyst. • polyaniline/ZrO 2 nanocomposite. In recent days, conducting polymers with inorganic metal oxide shows interest in electrochemical and electro catalytic applications. Zirconia doped polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposites were synthesized through in situ polymerization method for both formic acid oxidation (FAO) and ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray Diffraction Spectroscopy (XRD), High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The electrochemical properties of nanocomposites were tested by cyclic voltammetry (CV), Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) methods. Studies of differential Pulse Voltammetry and chronoamperometry shows the electro catalytic activity and stability of the ZrO 2 -PANI catalyst. The FAO of ZrO 2 -PANI demonstrates the highest electro catalytic performance with a high current density of 4.6 mA.cm −2 , which is higher than the EOR with the maximum of peak current of 2.8 mA.cm −2 . As per studies, ZrO 2 -PANI nanocomposites work well as a direct-formic acid fuel cell electrocatalyst.