Electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol using poly(thionine) supported platinum and palladium nanoparticles

Today, polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells are considered as candidates to replace existing batteries, especially in portable devices. Although the most preferred fuel cells are systems using hydrogen (H2) or methanol as fuel, there are still some limitations despite many researches made over the years. The main difficulties encountered in fuel cells using hydrogen as a fuel can be summarized as high cost, potential hazards in transportation and low energy density of hydrogen in the gas phase. In methanol fuel cells, on the other hand, despite the considerably high energy density of methanol, the slow electrocatalytic oxidation rate is an important disadvantage. In addition, the incompatibility of methanol with Nafion® membrane limits the use of high concentrations, thus negatively affecting fuel usage and fuel cell performance. Due to these limitations in hydrogen and methanol fuel cells, ethanol has attracted a lot of attention as an alternative fuel in recent years. On the other hand, the potential to use ethanol (bioethanol) as a renewable energy source that can be obtained from plants makes ethanol fuel cells even more interesting. The aim of the proposed master's thesis is to prepare Pt (Platinum) and Pd (Palladium) monometallic nanocatalysts and PtPd bimetallic nanocatalysts using poly(thionine) (PTH) conductive polymer as support material and to test their effectiveness for the electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol. Optimization of the experimental conditions for the preparation of the catalysts are included in the scope of the thesis and characterization of the PTH supported nanocatalysts prepared under optimum conditions by electrochemical and physical methods were carried out during the experimental section.