Electrocatalysts based on Pt, SN and Ni: online analysis of the metals dissolution

• Grant number: 14/01873-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: July 07, 2014
• End date: March 06, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Mauro Coelho dos Santos
• Grantee: Luanna Silveira Parreira
• Supervisor: Karl J. J. Mayrhofer
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Max Planck Society, Dusseldorf, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 11/00002-8 - Study of nanostructure and support influence in Pt, Sn and Ni-based electro catalysts for ethanol oxidation, BP.DD

Abstract

This work seeks to study the durability of nanostructured electrocatalysts in the form of ternary alloys and core - shell structures based on Pt, Sn and Ni in different supports that optimize the performance of the anodes in the oxidation of ethanol, aiming at its application in direct ethanol fuel cell. The materials were prepared by the polymeric precursors method (ternary alloys) and chemical reduction (core- shell structures) and subsequently were supported on amorphous carbon with high surface area and multiwalled carbon nanotubes functionalized with carboxylic groups. Accelerated stress tests will be conducted for observation of the metals dissolution that will be quantitatively investigated during potential cycling and potential step experiments using a microelectrochemical scanning flow cell (SFC) coupled to an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS), allowing correlate the structural changes of the materials with their electrocatalytic activity in the ethanol oxidation reaction. (AU)