Study of layer-by-layer films of PEDOT, graphene, platinum nanoparticles and Nafion®, foreseeing applications in microfuel cells

• Grant number: 12/01484-9
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: April 01, 2012
• End date: March 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Riul Júnior
• Grantee: Antonio Riul Júnior
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin (IFGW). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project aims the study and fabrication of ultrathin nanostructured layer-by-layer (LbL) films having PEDOT, platinum nanoparticles, graphene and Nafion® in different combinations and molecular architectures. The main idea is find out LbL architectures influencing positively essential parameters of fuel cells, such as increasing proton conduction and decreasing methanol permeation in Nafion® membranes, for example, raising the efficiency and durability. Up to date the LbL films have been poorly explored in fuel cells, despite recent results show that the deposition of LbL films in Nafion® membranes outcome a reduction of 40% in the methanol permeation and an increase of almost twice in the proton conduction of fuel cells, when compared with pristine Nafion®. In this sense, the use of conducting polymers is highly promising due to the availability of charge sites that might contribute to an increase in the proton conductivity, regardless of higher chemical and mechanical stability to the ion exchange membranes in very oxidative and reductive media. Moreover, we intend to use microfluidics and the incorporation of platinum nanoparticles to reduce size and costs, and the use of graphene nanosheets has shown a promising alternative in reducing some chemical species, besides the increase in catalytic activity of electrodes of fuel cells. Our interest is the application of the nanostructured films in the development of a microfuel cell, due to the high economic potential and market growth tied to portable devices. The project will be developed in cooperation with researchers at Laboratório Nacional de Nanotecnologia (LNNano/LNLS - Campinas), enabling photolithography equipments and techniques not available at UFSCar, campus Sorocaba. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MIYAZAKI, CELINA M.; MARIA, MARCO A. E.; BORGES, DAIANE DAMASCENO; WOELLNER, CRISTIANO F.; BRUNETTO, GUSTAVO; FONSECA, ALEXANDRE F.; CONSTANTINO, CARLOS J. L.; PEREIRA-DA-SILVA, MARCELO A.; DE SIERVO, ABNER; GALVAO, DOUGLAS S.; et al. Experimental and computational investigation of reduced graphene oxide nanoplatelets stabilized in poly(styrene sulfonate) sodium salt. Journal of Materials Science, v. 53, n. 14, p. 10049-10058, JUL 2018. (10/13033-6, 16/00023-9, 12/01484-9, 14/24547-1, 15/14703-9, 14/11410-8)