Electrochemical characterization of Ni-Co and Ni-Co-Fe for oxidation of methyl alcohol fuel with high energetic catalytic surface

摘要

Non Pt based metals and alloys as electrode materials for methyl alcohol fuel cells have been investigated w ith an aim of finding high electrocatalytic surface property for the faster electrode reactions.Electrodes w ere fabricated by electrodeposition on pure Al foil,from an electrolyte of Ni,Co,Fe salts.The optimum condition of electrodeposition w ere found out by a series of experiments,varying the chemistry of the electrolyte,pH valve,temperature,current and cell potential.Polarization study of the coated Ni-Co or Ni-CoFe alloy on pure Al w as found to exhibit high exchange current density,indicating an improved electro catalytic surface w ith faster charge-discharge reactions at anode and cathode and low overvoltage.Electrochemical impedance studies on coated and uncoated surface clearly show ed that the polarization resistance and impedance w ere decreased by Ni-Co or Ni-Co-Fe coating.X-ray diffraction(XRD),energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDX)and atomic absorption spectroscopy(AAS)studies confirmed the presence of alloying elements and constituents of the alloy.The morphology of the deposits from scanning electron microscope(SEM)images indicated that the electrode surface w as a three dimensional space w hich increased the effective surface area for the electrode reactions to take place.