Carbon nanotubes as a secondary support of a catalyst layer in a gas diffusion electrode for metal air batteries

Hui Huang; Wenkui Zhang; Meichao Li; Yongping Gan; Jinhua Chen; Yafei Kuang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2004.10.067

Carbon nanotubes as a secondary support of a catalyst layer in a gas diffusion electrode for metal air batteries

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2005 Apr 15;284(2):593-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2004.10.067.

Authors

Hui Huang¹, Wenkui Zhang, Meichao Li, Yongping Gan, Jinhua Chen, Yafei Kuang

Affiliation

¹ College of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, People's Republic of China.

PMID: 15780298
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2004.10.067

Abstract

In this paper, we report the use of binary carbon supports (carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and active carbon) as a catalyst layer for fabricating gas diffusion electrodes. The electrocatalytic properties for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) were evaluated by polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in an alkaline electrolyte. The binary-support electrode exhibits better performance than the single-support electrode, and the best performance is obtained when the mass ratio of carbon nanotubes and active carbon is 50:50. The results from the electrode kinetic parameters indicate that the introduction of carbon nanotubes as a secondary support provides high accessible surface area, good electronic conductivity, and fast ORR kinetics. Furthermore, the effect of CNT support on the electrocatalytic properties of Pt nanoparticles for binary-support electrodes was also investigated by different loading-reduction methods. The electrocatalytic activity of the binary-support electrodes is improved dramatically by Pt loading on CNT carbon support, even at very low Pt loading. Additionally, the EIS analysis results indicate that the process of ORR may be controlled by diffusion of oxygen in the electrode thin film for binary-support electrodes with or without Pt catalyst.