Effect of heat treatment and functionalization of MWCNT nanocomposite on the performance PEMFC electrocatalyst

Multiwalled Carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) serve as an efficient support material in the development of electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In the present study, we have demonstrated the effect of functionalization and heat treatment of MWCNTs on the performance of PEM fuel cell while employed as an catalyst support material. The modification of pristine CNTs was done by heat treatment (at ~2200 °C) and acid functionalized. Platinum nanoparticles supported Pt/h-CNT and Pt/f-CNT nanocomposites were prepared by polyol reduction method. Various characterizations like XRD, Raman and LSV has been done. Finally the composites were tested for unit fuel cell performance and the peak power density for samples Pt/h-CNT and Pt/f-CNT were obtained as 659 and 516 mW/cm2 respectively. This shows that there is nearly 27% enhancement in the performance of the elctrocatalyst Pt/h-CNT.