Synthesis, characterisation and performance analysis of multi-walled carbon nanotubes supported platinum catalyst for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Abstract

ABSTRACTMulti-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) supported Platinum catalyst (20 wt%) was synthesised using a standard procedure. The nanocatalyst was characterised using physical methods such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) as well as electrochemical methods such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV). Membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) were fabricated for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) of 25 cm2 active area using variable loadings of nanocatalyst on anode and cathode. Experimental analysis was conducted to investigate the effect of nanocatalyst loading under the influence of variable operating parameters such as cell temperature, gas humidification temperatures on the output performance of the PEMFC. Comparative polarisation curves were drawn to show the impact of nanocatalyst loading on cell performance under similar operating conditions. Output comparisons were made with standard literature data to analyse MEA performance.