1. Synthesis of Fe nanoparticles on polyaniline covered carbon nanotubes for oxygen reduction reaction.
- Author
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Hu, Tian-Hang, Yin, Zhong-Shu, Guo, Jian-Wei, and Wang, Cheng
- Subjects
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SURFACE chemistry , *NANOPARTICLES , *POLYANILINES , *CARBON nanotubes , *OXYGEN reduction , *CHEMICAL reactions - Abstract
Fe nanoparticles immobilized on polyaniline-covered carbon nanotube (CNT) surfaces (Fe NPs–PANI/CNT) are prepared by reducing FeCl 3 in the mixing solution of aniline and CNT. Significantly, the structure of such composites can be effectively optimized by pretreating FeCl 3 with sodium citrate (CA). In the absence of CNTs, we found these two routes have large differences in reduction behaviors and different PANI states with varied conductivities. Therefore, the self-assembly mechanism in the preparation is proposed and the controlled self-assembly manner in the pretreating route is disclosed. Under acid condition, both catalysts demonstrate high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity with four-electron pathway, and high electrochemical durability, revealing a promising application in the proton exchange membrane fuel cells. However, the high Tafel slopes relating to the surface red-ox couple and porous conductivity are still the main obstacles to improve their ORR dynamic, and more efforts on these aspects are needed to drive non-noble catalyst application in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
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