High electrical conductivity and oxidation reduction reaction activity of tungsten carbide/carbon nanocomposite synthesized from palm oil by solution plasma process

Abstract

In this study, the enhancement of electrical conductivity and Oxidation Reduction Reaction (ORR) activity of tungsten carbide/carbon (WC/C) nanocomposite was successfully synthesized from palm oil by solution plasma process (SPP). For the synthesis, plasma fields with different frequency were applied the bipolar pulsed power supply connected with two tungsten electrodes. The properties of the synthesized WC/C nanocomposite were varied by using a different frequency. The electrical conductivity increased with the frequencies. The highest electrical conductivity was 4.27×10−2 S cm−1, which is higher than that of Ketjen Black (7.37 × 10−3 S cm−1). The WC/C nanocomposites were observed the surface area 160 m2 g−1, pore volume 0.53 cm3 g−1, average pore diameter 16.29 nm, basal plane crystallite size 18.0 nm, and the average compound granule diameter less than 100 nm. The cyclic voltammetry measurement was showed that the ORR activity of WC/C nanocomposites were obtained the good performance in alkaline solution for fuel cell application.