Preparation of electrochemically exfoliated graphene oxides and investigation of their use as support material for palladium catalysts in ethanol fuel cells

In this study, it is aimed to prepare alternative materials that can be used as support materials for Pd catalysts in direct ethanol fuel cells. The studies carried out in this context consist of two main parts; synthesis of graphene oxide structures by electrochemical exfoliation method and modification of graphene oxides obtained as a result of exfoliation under hydrothermal conditions. In the first part, electrochemical exfoliated graphene oxides (EEGO) were synthesized in the presence of different support electrolytes containing sulfate ions and their activities in ethanol oxidation were investigated by modifying them with Pd nanoparticles. The highest activity was achieved in the presence of EEGO prepared using 0,05 M H2SO4 support electrolyte. The current density of Pd@EEGOSA-0.05 electrode is %65 and %128 higher respectively,compared to carbon black (70,27 mA/cm2) which is commercially used under the same conditions and graphene oxide (50,57 mA/cm2) obtained by the Hummers method. The stability of the electrodes prepared using EEGO has also been observed to be quite high compared to carbon black and GO. In the second part, the modifications of EEGOs prepared in lithium perchlorate medium in the presence of amino acids under hydrothermal conditions were investigated. The ethanol activity of glycine-modified EEGO showed a %98 increase compared to before modification. The structural and morphological properties of the prepared materials were characterized using different analysis methods. The results obtained have shown that EEGOs can be an alternative to carbon black and graphene oxide.