The Influence of Porous Features on the Electrochemical Performance of Its Supported Platinum Catalyst in Porous Carbon Nanofibers

Fangyi  Mao; Yang  Wang; Kang  Fu; Junhong  Jin; Shenglin  Yang; Guang  Li

doi:10.4236/msce.2017.57002

Fangyi Mao, Yang Wang, Kang Fu, Junhong Jin, Shenglin Yang, Guang Li^*

Abstract:

Porous carbon nanofibers (PCNFs) were prepared through electrospinning, pre-oxidation and carbonization with polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as carbon precursor and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), CaCO3 as pore-forming agents. The structure, morphology, specific surface area and electrochemical performance of the carbon nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N2 adsorption/desorption method and electrochemical tests. Compared with PCNFs without CaCO3, PCNFs(CaCO3 1%) had higher specific surface area, better dispersion of Pt nanoparticles, and the particle size become smaller, which was corresponding with the results of electrochemical performance test. It could be seen in cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) test, ECSA of Pt/PCNFs (CaCO3 1%) attained 82 m2?g?1, while that of JM20 and Pt/PCNFs without CaCO3 were 77 m2?g?1 and 60 m2?g?1, respectively. These results revealed that CaCO3 as the second pore-forming agent can further increase the mesoporous number and specific surface area of nanofibers, and can improve the electrochemical properties of Pt catalyst as the support.

Keywords: Porous Carbon Nanofibers, CaCO3, Electrospinning, Catalyst Support, Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Cite this paper: Mao, F. , Wang, Y. , Fu, K. , Jin, J. , Yang, S. and Li, G. (2017) The Influence of Porous Features on the Electrochemical Performance of Its Supported Platinum Catalyst in Porous Carbon Nanofibers. Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, 5, 10-18. doi: 10.4236/msce.2017.57002.

References

[1] Xin, Y., Liu, J.G., Zhou, Y., Liu, W., Gao, J., Xie, Y., Yin, Y. and Zou, Z. (2011) Preparation and Characterization of Pt Supported on Graphene with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity in Fuel Cell. Journal of Power Sources, 196, 1012-1018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2010.08.051

[2] Liu, H.S., Song, C.J., Zhang, L., Zhang, J.J., Wang, H.J. and Wilkinson, D.P. (2006) A Review of Anode Catalysis in the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell. Journal of Power Sources, 155, 95-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2006.01.030

[3] Hulicova, D., Kodama, M. and Hattori, H. (2006) Electrochemical Performance of Nitrogen-Enriched Carbons in Aqueous and Non-Aqueous Supercapacitors. Chemistry of Materials, 18, 2318-2326. https://doi.org/10.1021/cm060146i

[4] Wei, D., Liu, Y., Wang, Y., Zhang, H., Huang, L. and Yu, G. (2009) Synthesis of N-Doped Graphene by Chemical Vapor Deposition and Its Electrical Properties, Nano Letters, 9, 1752-1758. https://doi.org/10.1021/nl803279t

[5] Zhou, C.W., Kong, J., Yenilmez, E. and Dai, H.J. (2000) Modulated Chemical Doping of Individual Carbon Nanotubes. Science, 290, 1552-1555. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.290.5496.1552

[6] Lv, R., Cui, T., Jun, M.S., Zhang, Q., Cao, A., Su, D.S., Zhang, Z., Yoon, S.H., Miyawaki, J., Mochida, I. and Kang, F. (2011) Open-Ended, N-Doped Carbon Nanotube—Graphene Hybrid Nanostructures as High-Performance Catalyst Support, Advanced Functional Materials, 21, 999-1006. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201001602

[7] Zhang, L.S., Liang, X.Q., Song, W.G. and Wu, Z.Y. (2010) Identification of the Ni-trogen Species on N-Doped Graphene Layers and Pt/NG Composite Catalyst for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 12, 12055-12059. https://doi.org/10.1039/c0cp00789g

[8] Jafri, R.I., Rajalakshmi, N. and Ramaprabhu, S. (2010) Nitrogen Doped Graphene Nanop-latelets as Catalyst Support for Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell. Journal of Materials Chemistry, 20, 7114-7117. https://doi.org/10.1039/c0jm00467g

[9] Maldonado, S. and Stevenson, K.J. (2005) Influence of Nitrogen Doping on Oxygen Re-duction Electro Catalysis at Carbon Nanofiber Electrodes. Journal of Physical Chemistry, 109, 4707-4716. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp044442z

[10] álvarez, G., Alcaide, F., Cabot, P.L., Lázaro, M.J., Pastor, E. and Solla-Gullón, J. (2012) Electrochemical Performance of Low Temperature PEMFC with Surface Tailored Carbon Nanofibers as Catalyst Support. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 37, 393-404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.09.055

[11] Wang, Y., Jin, J., Yang, S.L., Li, G. and Qiao, J.L. (2015) Highly Active and Stable Platinum Catalyst Supported on Porous Carbon Nanofibers for Improved Performance of PEMFC. Electrochimica Acta, 177, 181-189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2015.01.134

[12] Zhao, C., Wang, W., Yu, Z., Zhang, H., Wang, A. and Yang, Y. (2010) Na-no-CaCO3 as Template for Preparation of Disordered Large Mesoporous Carbon with Hierarchical Porosities. J. Mater. Chem, 20, 976-980. https://doi.org/10.1039/B911913B

[13] Blackman, J.M., Patrick, J.W., Arenillas, A., Shi, W. and Snape, C.E. (2006) Activation of Carbon Nanofibers for Hydrogen Storage. Carbon, 44, 1376-1385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2005.11.015

[14] Wang, Y., Jin, J., Yang, S.L., Li, G. and Jiang, J.M. (2016) Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon Nanofiber Based Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysts with High Activity and Durability. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 41, 11174- 11184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.04.235