Fabrication of Pt/C Nanofiber Electrode for Fuel Cell Application

Triethylamine catalyst was used to increase themolecular weight of poly(amic acid). Inelectrospinning, diameter of PAA nanofibers wascontrolled by molecular weight of poly(amic acid) andconcentration of poly(amic acid)/N-Ndimethylformamide solution. The diameters ofpolyimide based carbon nanofibers reached to aminimum value of around 100 nm. The conductivity ofthe carbon nanofiber papers increased with thedecreasing of fiber diameters, while the mechanicalstrength of polyimide and carbon nanofiber paper wasdiameter independent. Further more, Pt wassuccessfully impregnated in carbon nanofiber.Reduction accompanied with carbonization in Ar gas atup to 1000 degree C produced small and well-dispersedPt nanoparticles (3-5 nm). Carbon dioxide treatmentexhibited the effective ability of removal ofcarbonaceous overlayers to promise a potentialenhancement Pt catalyst activity. The reduction rateof Pt ion is different at heating rate of 2 and 5degree C/min. Thus, the heating rate and time at hightemperature strongly affected Pt nanoparticle size.

Autorentext

Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuyen, completed her Master degree of NanoScience and NanoTechnology in 2007, and is currently PhD student in the group of Prof. Young Hee Lee, Sungkyunkwan University, Republic of Korea. Her research interests are composite of carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, electrochemistry, catalyst and fuel cell.

Klappentext
Triethylamine catalyst was used to increase the molecular weight of poly(amic acid). In electrospinning, diameter of PAA nanofibers was controlled by molecular weight of poly(amic acid) and concentration of poly(amic acid)/N-N dimethylformamide solution. The diameters of polyimide based carbon nanofibers reached to a minimum value of around 100 nm. The conductivity of the carbon nanofiber papers increased with the decreasing of fiber diameters, while the mechanical strength of polyimide and carbon nanofiber paper was diameter independent. Further more, Pt was successfully impregnated in carbon nanofiber. Reduction accompanied with carbonization in Ar gas at up to 1000 degree C produced small and well-dispersed Pt nanoparticles (3-5 nm). Carbon dioxide treatment exhibited the effective ability of removal of carbonaceous overlayers to promise a potential enhancement Pt catalyst activity. The reduction rate of Pt ion is different at heating rate of 2 and 5 degree C/min. Thus, the heating rate and time at high temperature strongly affected Pt nanoparticle size.