Generation of a Highly Efficient Electrode for Ethanol Oxidation by Simply Electrodepositing Palladium on the Oxygen Plasma-Treated Carbon Fiber Paper

Houg-Yuan Pei,Wei Lin,Chen-Han Lin,Chiun-Jye Yuan

doi:10.3390/catal11020248

Houg-Yuan Pei, Wei Lin + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/catal11020248

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Abstract

In this study, a highly efficient carbon-supported Pd catalyst for the direct ethanol fuel cell was developed by electrodepositing nanostructured Pd on oxygen plasma-treated carbon fiber paper (Pd/pCFP). The oxygen plasma treatment has been shown to effectively remove the surface organic contaminants and add oxygen species onto the CFP to facilitate the deposition of nano-structured Pd on the surface of carbon fibers. Under the optimized and controllable electrodeposition method, nanostructured Pd of ~10 nm can be easily and evenly deposited onto the CFP. The prepared Pd/pCFP electrode exhibited an extraordinarily high electrocatalytic activity towards ethanol oxidation, with a current density of 222.8 mA mg−1 Pd. Interestingly, the electrode also exhibited a high tolerance to poisoning species and long-term stability, with a high ratio of the forward anodic peak current density to the backward anodic peak current density. These results suggest that the Pd/pCFP catalyst may be a promising anodic material for the development of highly efficient direct alcohol fuel cells.

Highlights

Energy supply by consumption of fossil fuels, such as petroleum, coal and natural gas, raises severe problems for the environment and public health, including depletion of natural resources, air pollution and global warming [1,2]
We demonstrated that Pd could be effectively electrodeposited onto the surface of the oxygen plasma-treated Carbon fiber paper (CFP)
Oxygen plasma treatment was proposed to improve the electrodeposition of Pd onto CFP, as well as the catalytic activity of the electrodeposited Pd catalyst towards ethanol oxidation

Summary

Introduction

Energy supply by consumption of fossil fuels, such as petroleum, coal and natural gas, raises severe problems for the environment and public health, including depletion of natural resources, air pollution and global warming [1,2]. Compared to conventional power generators, fuel cells convert chemical energy directly to electrical energy by electrochemical reactions and operate with high efficiency, low emissions and clean processes [3,4,5,6]. Direct liquid fuel cells have attracted much attention because they exhibit high energy density and high efficiency and can be operated under ambient conditions [7,8]. Among commonly used liquid fuels, ethanol is attractive due to its high specific energy (8.0 kWh/kg), low toxicity, renewability and low crossover problems [9,10,11]. The direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC) is recognized as one of the most efficient power systems for powering portable and mobile devices [14,15,16]. DEFC works by electrochemical oxidation of ethanol at the anode, while at cathode oxygen is reduced

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