Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Methanol on a Glassy Carbon modified electrode by Carbon Nanotubes, Poly(4-methyl-ortho-phenylenediamine) and platinum NanoParticles

In recent years, fuel cells have become a hot topic because of the decrease in fossil fuel reserves and the serious environmental pollution caused by the use of these fossil fuels. Fuel cells have shown great potential as highly efficient and low-emission power sources for portable electronic devices. Alcohols, like methanol and ethanol, are widely recognized as the most promising candidates for fuel cells (1-4). Electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol on a glassy carbon electrode coated with carbon nanotubes, poly (4-methyl-ortho-phenylenediamine) (4-MoPD) and platinum nanoparticles was studied by cyclic voltammetry in an alkaline medium (0.50 M NaOH). The Pt nanoclusters were electrochemically deposited on the electrodes under multi-cyclic voltammetry in 0.5 mol/L H2SO4 and K2PtCl6 solution in the potential window of -0.5 to +0.5V versus Ag/AgCl. The physical properties of modified electrode were characterized via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electro-oxidation of methanol in 0.5 M NaOH was studies using cyclic voltammetry method. The effective parameters included concentration of polymer solution, concentration of platinum solution, number of cycles for polymerization ,scan rate for polymerization, number of cycles for electrochemically deposition of Platinum nanoparticles, scan rate for deposition of Platinum and concentration of NaOH solution on the electro-oxidation of methanol were also investigated. In the optimum condition, the prepared electrode showed excellent electrochemically active surface areas (ECSAs), catalytic activity, and stability toward the methanol electro-oxidation reaction in the alkaline media .