A Nickel Sublayer: An Improvement in the Electrochemical Performance of Platinum-Based Electrocatalysts as Anodes in Glucose Alkaline Fuel Cells

Platinum–nickel electrocatalysts supported on the modified carbon paper (MCP) were prepared by electrodeposition. Here, various procedures were applied for the electrodeposition of nickel and platinum particles, separately or simultaneously, on the surface of the MCP as an anode electrode for glucose alkaline fuel cells. The establishment of the best procedure for this fabrication is the main goal of this work. The obtained electrocatalysts were characterized by cyclic voltammetry, linear sweep voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Xray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results showed that the Pt/Ni electrocatalyst, electrodeposited from two separate solutions containing Ni and then Pt ions, has excellent electrocatalytic activity for the glucose oxidation reaction (GOR). On the other hand, the Pt/Ni/MCP electrode showed satisfactory repeatability when subjected to continuous cycling and less concentration polarization in the oxidation region of GOR (from 1 to 0.6 V vs. SCE). Also, the Pt/Ni/MCP electrode showed a significant increase in the exchange current density (0.95 mA cm2) that accelerates the kinetics of the glucose oxidation reaction.These results indicate that modification of the catalyst layer structure in the present work is the most promising approach to achieve lowcost and efficient catalysts for use in glucose alkaline fuel cells.