Abstract
In this study, CoCu alloy nanoparticles-incorporated carbon nanofibers are introduced as effective non precious electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation in alkaline medium. The introduced electrocatalyst has been synthesized by simple and effective process; electrospinning. Typically, calcination, in nitrogen atmosphere, of electrospun nanofibers composed of cobalt acetate, copper acetate and poly (vinyl alcohol) leads to form carbon nanofibers decorated by CoCu nanoparticles. The nanofibrous morphology and alloy structure have been confirmed by SEM, TEM and XRD analyses. Investigation of the electrocatalytic activity indicates that copper content has strong influence, the alloy nanoparticles having the composition Cu5%Co95% showed distinct high performance; 100 times higher than other formulations. Overall, the introduced study revealed the veil about the distinct role of copper in enhancing the electrocatalytic activity of cobalt-based materials.
Highlights
In this study, CoCu alloy nanoparticles-incorporated carbon nanofibers are introduced as effective non precious electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation in alkaline medium
The results indicated that Cu content in the metallic alloy nanoparticles has distinct influence on the electrocatalytic activity
Electrospinning technique can be utilized to produce smooth, beads free and good morphology nanofibers composed of poly(vinyl alcohol), copper acetate and cobalt acetate
Summary
CoCu alloy nanoparticles-incorporated carbon nanofibers are introduced as effective non precious electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation in alkaline medium. The green technologies implemented for power generation include the use of air and water. Such technologies are in adequate to accomplish the existing power requirement[1,2,3,4,5]. The emergence of fuel cell technology has created a new tool for the generation of clean, high competence substitute energy for humans. Methanol is easier to supply to the community using existing infrastructure It is can be produced from agricultural biomass and is considered a renewable energy[2,3,6]. The elementary procedures of DMFCs comprise methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction on precious metal catalysts
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