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Experimental investigation on DMFCs using reduced noble metal loading with NiTiO3 as supportive material to enhance cell performances

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journal contribution
posted on 2019-04-26, 10:37 authored by V. Thiagarajan, P. Karthikeyan, K. Thanarajan, S. Neelakrishnan, R. Manoharan, Rui Chen, Ashley FlyAshley Fly, R. Anand, Thundil R. Karuppa Raj, N. Sendhil Kumar
In this present work, the effect of anode electrocatalyst materials is investigated by adding NiTiO3 with Pt/C and Pt-Ru/C for the performance enhancement of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). The supportive material NiTiO3/C has been synthesized first by wet chemical method followed by incorporation of Pt and Pt-Ru separately. Experiments are conducted with the combination of four different electrocatalyst materials on the anode side (Pt/C, Pt-NiTiO3/C, PtRu/C, Pt-Ru-NiTiO3/C) and with commercial 20 wt % Pt/C on the cathode side; 0.5 mgpt/cm2 loading is maintained on both sides. The performance tests of the above catalysts are conducted on 5 cm2 active area with various operating conditions like cell operating temperatures, methanol/water molar concentrations and reactant flow rates. Best performing operating conditions have been optimized. The maximum peak power densities attained are 13.30 mW/cm2 (26.6 mW/mgpt) and 14.60 mW/cm2 (29.2 mW/mgpt) for Pt-NiTiO3/C and Pt-Ru-NiTiO3/C at 80 °C, respectively, with 0.5 M concentration of methanol and fuel flow rate of 3 ml/min (anode) and oxygen flow rate of 100 ml/min (cathode). Besides, 5 h short term stability tests have been conducted for PtRu/C and Pt-NiTiO3/C. The overall results suggest that the incorporation of NiTiO3/C supportive material to Pt and Pt-Ru appears to make a promising anode electrocatalysts for the enhanced DMFC performances.

Funding

DST-UKIERI (DST/INT/UK/P121/2016), India and Loughborough University, U.K

History

School

  • Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering

Department

  • Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering

Published in

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

Citation

THIAGARAJAN, V. ... et al, 2019. Experimental investigation on DMFCs using reduced noble metal loading with NiTiO3 as supportive material to enhance cell performances. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 44 (26), pp.13415-13423.

Publisher

Elsevier © Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publisher statement

This paper was accepted for publication in the journal International Journal of Hydrogen Energy and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.03.244.

Acceptance date

2019-03-30

Publication date

2019-04-24

ISSN

0360-3199

Language

  • en

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