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. 2019 May 1;9(24):13503-13514.
doi: 10.1039/c9ra01270b. eCollection 2019 Apr 30.

Nanohybrid layered double hydroxide materials as efficient catalysts for methanol electrooxidation

Shimaa Gamil  1 , Waleed M A El Rouby  2 , Manuel Antuch  3 , I T Zedan  1
Affiliations

Nanohybrid layered double hydroxide materials as efficient catalysts for methanol electrooxidation

Shimaa Gamil et al. RSC Adv. .

Abstract

In this work, efficient methanol oxidation fuel cell catalysts with excellent stability in alkaline media have been synthesized by including transition metals to the layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanohybrids. The nanohybrids CoCr-LDH, NiCoCr-LDH and NiCr-LDH were prepared by co-precipitation and their physicochemical characteristics were investigated using TEM, XRD, IR and BET analyses. The nanohybrid CoCr-LDH is found to have the highest surface area of 179.87 m2 g-1. The electrocatalytic activity measurements showed that the current density was increased by increasing the methanol concentration (from 0.1 to 3 M) as a result of its increased oxidation at the surface. The nanohybrid NiCr-LDH, showing the highest pore size (55.5 Å) showed the highest performance for methanol oxidation, with a current density of 7.02 mA cm-2 at 60 mV s-1 using 3 M methanol. In addition, the corresponding onset potential was 0.35 V (at 60 mV s-1 using 3 M methanol) which is the lowest value among all other used LDH nanohybrids. Overall, we observed the following reactivity order: NiCr-LDH > NiCoCr-LDH > CoCr-LDH, as derived from the impedance spectroscopy analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. (a) The XRD patterns for nanohybrid (I) NiCr-LDH, (II) CoCr-LDH and (III) NiCoCr-LDH; TEM images of hybrid (b) NiCr-LDH, (c) CoCr-LDH and (d) NiCoCr-LDH; (e) FTIR spectra of hybrid (I) NiCr-LDH, (II) NiCoCr-LDH and (III) CoCr-LDH.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. (a) N2 adsorption–desorption loops and (b) the BJH pore size distribution profiles of nanohybrid CoCr-LDH (red), NiCr-LDH (blue) and NiCoCr-LDH (green).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. CVs of the (a) NiCr-LDH and (b) CoCr-LDH (c) NiCoCr-LDH in 1 M KOH at different scan rates at 25 °C.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. CVs of the nanohybrids at different concentration of CH3OH; (a) NiCr-LDH and (b) CoCr-LDH (c) NiCoCr-LDH; (d) the onset potentials for the nanohybrids with 3 M methanol concentration.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5. (a) Chronoamperometric response for the prepared hybrids NiCr-LDH (black), CoCr-LDH (red) and NiCoCr-LDH (blue). CVs for 5 cycles after stability of the prepared hybrids (b) NiCr-LDH (c) CoCr-LDH and (d) NiCoCr-LDH.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6. Nyquist plots for the oxidation reaction at 0.60 V using 2 M methanol (inset shows equivalent circuit compatible with the experimental impedance data for methanol oxidation on NiCr-LDH, CoCr-LDH and NiCoCr-LDH).
Fig. 7
Fig. 7. Variation of the charge transfer resistance (RCT) with different methanol concentrations for NiCr-LDH, CoCr-LDH and NiCoCr-LDH.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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