Open AccessEnhancement Effect of Fe-Co-Ni/BC Nanoparticles for Membraneless Fuel Cells
Author(s) -
V. Selvarani,
S. Kiruthika,
V. Sudha,
A. Gayathri,
B. Muthukumaran
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
asian journal of chemistry/asian journal of chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.145
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 0975-427X
pISSN - 0970-7077
DOI - 10.14233/ajchem.2020.22728
Subject(s) - catalysis , ethylene glycol , chemistry , cobalt , nickel , electrochemistry , chemical engineering , nanoparticle , carbon fibers , carbon black , inorganic chemistry , nuclear chemistry , materials science , electrode , organic chemistry , natural rubber , composite number , engineering , composite material
Biocarbon (BC) supported iron–cobalt–nickel (Fe–Co–Ni/BC) nanoalloy catalysts were synthesized by ultrasonic-assisted chemicalreduction method. The morphological and physico-chemical characteristics show that the 1:1:1 composition of Fe–Co–Ni/BC catalysthas the Fe face-centered cubic (fcc) solid-solution structure showing the incorporation of Co and Ni. The electrocatalytic execution of thisiron-based nanoalloy catalyst and its interaction with biocarbon was explored in a membraneless fuel cell and compared with carbonsupported Fe–Co–Ni catalyst (Fe–Co–Ni/C). In a single-cell test, the power density obtained for Fe–Co–Ni/BC (35.4 mW/cm2) wasbetter than that of Fe–Co–Ni/C (31.3 mW/cm2), utilizing 0.1 mol/L sodium perborate as oxidant and 1 mol/L ethylene glycol as fuel in analkaline medium. The electrochemical findings revealed that the execution and solidness of the Fe–Co–Ni/BC catalyst is good andprevalent to that of Fe–Co–Ni/C catalyst. The better execution of BC-supported catalyst is due to its high electrical conductivity, highporosity and expansive surface area. It is been concluded that both the advantageous impact and the nature of support have an imperativepart on the execution of Fe–Co–Ni/BC nanoalloy catalysts for the CO2-free ethylene glycol oxidation. Subsequently, it is accepted that theBC-supported Fe–Co–Ni nanoalloy catalysts are anticipated to be broadly utilized in electrocatalytic energy-conversion applications.