Chelating agent assisted heat treatment of carbon supported cobalt oxide nanoparticle for use as cathode catalyst of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)

Chia-Hung Huang, Shyh-Jiun Liu and Weng-Sing Hwang

Energy, 2011, vol. 36, issue 7, 4410-4414

Abstract: Cobalt-based catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) have been successfully incorporated cobalt oxide (Co3O4) onto Vulcan XC-72 carbon powder by thermal decomposition of Co–ethylenediamine complex (ethylenediamine, NH2CH2CH2NH2, denoted en) at 850°C. The catalysts were prepared by adsorbing the cobalt complexes [Co(en)(H2O)4]3+, [Co(en)2(H2O)2]3+ and [Co(en)3]3+ on commercial XC-72 carbon black supports, loading amount of Co with respect to carbon black was about 2%, the resulting materials have been pyrolyzed under nitrogen atmosphere to create CoOx/C catalysts, donated as E1, E2, and E3, respectively. The composite materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Chemical compositions of prepared catalysts were determined using inductively-coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The catalytic activities for ORR have been analyzed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV). The electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction of E2 is superior to that of E1 and E3. Membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) containing the synthesized CoOx/C cathode catalysts were fabricated and evaluated by single cell tests. The E2 cathode performed better than that of E1 and E3 cathode. This can be attributed to the enhanced activity for ORR, in agreement with the composition of the catalyst that CoO co-existed with Co3O4. The maximum power density 73mWcm−2 was obtained at 0.3V with a current density of 240mAcm−2 for E2 and the normalized power density of E2 is larger than that that of commercial 20wt.% Pt/C-ETEK.

Keywords: Cobalt oxide nanoparticle; Chelating agent; Cathode catalyst; Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:36:y:2011:i:7:p:4410-4414

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2011.04.002

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