The preparation,characterization and application of new generation nano materials for direct alcohol fuel cells on clean energy source

Fuel cells differ from batteries in that they consume reactant, which must be replenished, while batteries store electrical energy chemically in a closed system. Additionally, while the electrodes within a battery react and change as a battery is charged or discharged, a fuel cell's electrodes are catalytic and relatively stable. The problem is just to need a catalyst, that is consist of expensive noble metals, for the activation of fuel cells. However, if the amount of expensive noble metals used for fuel cells have been decreased then it can be easily operated in daily life with long-term stability. For this purpose, addressed herein, reduced graphene oxide (RGO) which is chemically resistant and electrically conductive have been used for monodisperse Pt(0)@RGO as a support materials. The prepared catalyst has been synthesized by easy and reproducible double solvent reduction method at room temperature. Monodisperse Pt(0)@RGO formation have been confirmed by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Photoelectron Microscopy (XPS), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) and Chronoamperometry (CA). Moreover, the catalytic activity of the catalysts has been found as 5.64 mA cm-2 at 0.58 V in methanol. Also, Pt(0)@RGO have been compared to commercial catalysts for methanol oxidation and it was found that our catalyst has higher activity compared to the commercial ones. This case can be explained by the homogeneous distribution of nanomaterials on the RGO support with the average particle size of about 2-3 nm.