Development of Electrode Materials With Nanoparticles of Platinum Metal Catalysts for Chemical Cell Models

In this work, the development of efficient electrode materials for hydrogen-oxygen energy sources was carried out. Bimetallic platinum-nickel nanoparticles with controlled metal ratios from 1:3 to 3:1 were synthesized using a nonionic surfactant, Triton X-100, and sodium tetrahydroborate as a reducing agent. Solubilization coefficient (ω), equal to the water:surfactant ratio in all experiments was 1.5. Three types of carriers with different pore distribution were selected for the nanocomposite electrodes formation: carbon fabric, carbon paper and porous nickel. The size of the formed nanoparticles in the carrier matrices composition was estimated by electron microscopy. The energy parameters were evaluated using an automated AKIP-1375/1E electronic load with integrated software. Nanostructured membrane-electrode assemblies based on nanocomposite materials were carried out to evaluate the parameters of current density, voltage and power. In the hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell models a polytetrafluoroethylene-based membrane with a Pt(30%)/VXCR-72 catalytic dispersion was used as a solid polymer electrolyte. The loading of platinum-nickel catalysts on the anode and cathode was 0.5 mg/cm2. The studies were carried out at room temperature for three minutes for each model with varying external resistance from 9,000 to 0,5 ohms. As a result of the tests, it was found that carbon paper as a matrix showed the lowest specific power parameters for all metal ratios (27-40 mW/cm2). The maximum specific power (67,2 mW/cm2) was demonstrated by cells with electrodes based on porous nickel modified with platinum:nickel nanoparticles with a 3:1 ratio.