Synthesis and Investigation of Electrochemical Activity of Ni-Co/ poly (p-phenylenediamine) Catalyst Toward Methanol Electrooxidation

In this study, a facile deposition method was adopted to synthesis Ni-Co/ poly (p-phenylenediamine). The electrochemical activity of the synthesized catalysts was investigated using cyclic voltammetry method. According to the results obtained, current density of Ni-Co/ poly (p-phenylenediamine) with 2-minute deposition time is 9.32×10-1 which is higher than current density of poly (p-phenylenediamine), at 5.95×10-1 mA/cm2. The Onset potential shifts to negative values by 185 mV compared to onset potential of the blank sample for methanol electrooxidation. The voltammograms of the prepared electrocatalysts indicated that deposition of nickel and cobalt metallic particles to a blank poly (p-phenylenediamine) carbon paste electrode can enhance the electrochemical activity by lowering the onset potential and increasing the current density and electrochemically active surface area. Comparing electrochemical activity of samples with different deposition times, two minutes can be derived as the optimized amount.