Macroporous 3D Architectures of Self-Assembled MWCNT Surface Decorated with Pt Nanoparticles as Anodes for a Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

Microchannelled 3D architectures composed of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) surface decorated with Pt nanoparticles and chitosan (CHI) are prepared by an ice segregation induced self-assembly (ISISA) process. The microchannelled structures are highly porous (specific gravity ∼10-2) and exhibit excellent electron conductivity (2.5 S·cm-1) thanks to both the high content of MWCNTs (up to 89 wt %) and their interconnection. The Pt/MWCNT/CHI 3D architectures provide remarkable performance as anodes for a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC).

[1]  T. Zhao,et al.  Multiwalled carbon nanotube supported PtRu for the anode of direct methanol fuel cells. , 2006, The journal of physical chemistry. B.

[2]  F. Hussain,et al.  Self‐Assembly of Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes into a Sheet by Drop Drying , 2006 .

[3]  Wenzheng Li,et al.  Pt-Ru supported on double-walled carbon nanotubes as high-performance anode catalysts for direct methanol fuel cells. , 2006, The journal of physical chemistry. B.

[4]  A. Wiȩckowski,et al.  Electrochemistry of Methanol at Low Index Crystal Planes of Platinum: An Integrated Voltammetric and Chronoamperometric Study , 1994 .

[5]  Charles M. Lukehart,et al.  Pt−Ru/Carbon Fiber Nanocomposites: Synthesis, Characterization, and Performance as Anode Catalysts of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells. A Search for Exceptional Performance , 2002 .

[6]  Omkaram Nalamasu,et al.  Aligned carbon nanotube-polymer hybrid architectures for diverse flexible electronic applications. , 2006, Nano letters.

[7]  G. A. Deluga,et al.  A Pt−Ru/Graphitic Carbon Nanofiber Nanocomposite Exhibiting High Relative Performance as a Direct-Methanol Fuel Cell Anode Catalyst , 2001 .

[8]  I. Uchida,et al.  Cyclic voltammetric analysis of C1–C4 alcohol electrooxidations with Pt/C and Pt–Ru/C microporous electrodes , 2006 .

[9]  H. Tamon,et al.  Ordered macroporous silica by ice templating , 2005 .

[10]  Dusan A. Pejakovic,et al.  Electrical conductivity and electromagnetic interference shielding of multiwalled carbon nanotube composites containing Fe catalyst , 2004 .

[11]  H. Tamon,et al.  Formation of monolithic silica gel microhoneycombs (SMHs) using pseudosteady state growth of microstructural ice crystals. , 2004, Chemical communications.

[12]  Mool C. Gupta,et al.  Novel carbon nanotube-polystyrene foam composites for electromagnetic interference shielding. , 2005, Nano letters.

[13]  C. Bock,et al.  Size-selected synthesis of PtRu nano-catalysts: reaction and size control mechanism. , 2004, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[14]  O. Chauvet,et al.  Synthesis of a new polyaniline/nanotube composite: “in-situ” polymerisation and charge transfer through site-selective interaction , 2001 .

[15]  H. Tamon,et al.  Preparation of porous TiO2 cryogel fibers through unidirectional freezing of hydrogel followed by freeze-drying , 2004 .

[16]  C. R. Martin,et al.  Carbon nanotubule membranes for electrochemical energy storage and production , 1998, Nature.

[17]  H. Tamon,et al.  Preparation of resorcinol–formaldehyde carbon cryogel microhoneycombs , 2004 .

[18]  M. Gutiérrez,et al.  A Biocompatible Bottom‐Up Route for the Preparation of Hierarchical Biohybrid Materials , 2006 .

[19]  Hu-lin Li,et al.  Electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol on Pt modified single-walled carbon nanotubes , 2006 .

[20]  Eduardo Saiz,et al.  Freeze casting of hydroxyapatite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. , 2006, Biomaterials.

[21]  M. Ferrer,et al.  Freezing of Binary Colloidal Systems for the Formation of Hierarchy Assemblies , 2006 .

[22]  Andrew I. Cooper,et al.  Aligned two- and three-dimensional structures by directional freezing of polymers and nanoparticles , 2005, Nature materials.

[23]  U. Stimming,et al.  Novel nanocomposite Pt/RuO2x H2O/carbon nanotube catalysts for direct methanol fuel cells. , 2006, Angewandte Chemie.

[24]  H. Tamon,et al.  Preparation of monolithic SiO2–Al2O3 cryogels with inter-connected macropores through ice templating , 2006 .

[25]  K. R. Atkinson,et al.  Strong, Transparent, Multifunctional, Carbon Nanotube Sheets , 2005, Science.

[26]  Zhaolin Liu,et al.  Carbon-Supported Pt and PtRu Nanoparticles as Catalysts for a Direct Methanol Fuel Cell , 2004 .

[27]  Yongsheng Chen,et al.  Remarkable support effect of SWNTs in Pt catalyst for methanol electrooxidation , 2005 .

[28]  Younan Xia,et al.  Highly porous fibers by electrospinning into a cryogenic liquid. , 2006, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[29]  Maogen Zhang,et al.  Carbon nanotube-chitosan system for electrochemical sensing based on dehydrogenase enzymes. , 2004, Analytical chemistry.

[30]  Lei Fu,et al.  A new method to synthesize complicated multi-branched carbon nanotubes with controlled architecture and composition. , 2006, Nano letters.

[31]  Jong-Ho Choi,et al.  Ordered Porous Carbons with Tunable Pore Sizes as Catalyst Supports in Direct Methanol Fuel Cell , 2004 .

[32]  R. Smalley,et al.  Vertical array growth of small diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes. , 2006, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[33]  C. Erkey,et al.  Preparation of Platinum/Carbon Aerogel Nanocomposites Using a Supercritical Deposition Method , 2004 .

[34]  Joselito M. Razal,et al.  Super-tough carbon-nanotube fibres , 2003, Nature.

[35]  S. Iijima.  Helical microtubules of graphitic carbon , 1991, Nature.

[36]  W Gregory Sawyer,et al.  Super-Compressible Foamlike Carbon Nanotube Films , 2005, Science.

[37]  Eduardo Saiz,et al.  Freezing as a Path to Build Complex Composites , 2006, Science.

[38]  Lingbo Zhu,et al.  Well-aligned open-ended carbon nanotube architectures: an approach for device assembly. , 2006, Nano letters.