Microwave-assisted synthesis of palladium nanoparticles intercalated nitrogen doped reduced graphene oxide and their electrocatalytic activity for direct-ethanol fuel cells

Rajesh Kumar; Everson T S G da Silva; Rajesh K Singh; Raluca Savu; Andrei V Alaferdov; Leandro C Fonseca; Lory C Carossi; Arvind Singh; Sarita Khandka; Kamal K Kar; Oswaldo L Alves; Lauro T Kubota; Stanislav A Moshkalev

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2018.01.028

Microwave-assisted synthesis of palladium nanoparticles intercalated nitrogen doped reduced graphene oxide and their electrocatalytic activity for direct-ethanol fuel cells

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2018 Apr 1:515:160-171. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2018.01.028. Epub 2018 Jan 8.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Semiconductor Components and Nanotechnology (CCS-Nano), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, 1308-870 Sao Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: rajeshbhu1@gmail.com.
² Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), P.O. Box 6154, Campinas, 13084-974 Sao Paulo, Brazil.
³ School of Physical & Material Sciences, Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP), Kangra, Dharamshala, H.P. 176215, India.
⁴ Centre for Semiconductor Components and Nanotechnology (CCS-Nano), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, 1308-870 Sao Paulo, Brazil.
⁵ Laboratory of Solid State Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083-970 Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁶ Department of Physics, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture Technology and Sciences, Naini, Allahabad, U.P. 211007, India.
⁷ Advanced Nanoengineering Materials Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Programme, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, UP, India.
⁸ Centre for Semiconductor Components and Nanotechnology (CCS-Nano), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, 1308-870 Sao Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: stanisla@unicamp.br.

PMID: 29335183
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2018.01.028

Abstract

Palladium nanoparticles decorated reduced graphene oxide (Pd-rGO) and palladium nanoparticles intercalated inside nitrogen doped reduced graphene oxide (Pd-NrGO) hybrids have been synthesized by applying a very simple, fast and economic route using microwave-assisted in-situ reduction and exfoliation method. The Pd-NrGO hybrids materials show good activity as catalyst for ethanol electro oxidation for direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) as compared to Pd-rGO hybrids. The enhanced direct ethanol fuel cell can serve as alternative to fossil fuels because it is renewable and environmentally-friendly with a high energy conversion efficiency and low pollutant emission. As proof of concept, the electrocatalytic activity of Pd-NrGO hybrid material was accessed by cyclic voltammetry in presence of ethanol to evaluate its applicability in direct-ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs). The Pd-NrGO catalyst presented higher electro active surface area (∼6.3 m² g^-1) for ethanol electro-oxidation when compared to Pd-rGO hybrids (∼3.7 m² g^-1). Despite the smaller catalytic activity of Pd-NrGO, which was attributed to the lower exfoliation rate of this material in relation to the Pd-rGO, Pd-NrGO showed to be very promising and its catalytic activity can be further improved by tuning the synthesis parameters to increase the exfoliation rate.

Keywords: Direct-ethanol fuel cells; Intercalated; Microwave; N-doped reduced graphene oxide; Palladiun nanoparticle.