Carbon-platinum nanoparticle composites : fabrication and application in fuel cells and reduced graphite oxides : fabrication and properties.

• Main Author: Sun, Li.
• Other Authors: Lam Yeng Ming
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Materials::Energy materials
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/50623
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The main part of this thesis deals with the fabrication of carbon sheet-supported Pt nanocrystallites by a novel simultaneous thermal precipitation process. The carbon films show high conductivity (103 S/cm) and the Pt nanoparticles (size 2-5 nm) are uniformly distributed on the carbon films. As a demonstration of their catalytic function, the Pt nanoparticle-containing composite membranes are tested for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC), for which a very good catalytic performance is obtained. Reasons for their good catalytic performance in DMFC are proposed and discussed. Such a new simultaneous thermal precipitation method, without using any reducing agent and stabilizer, opens a new route for fabricating other kind of noble metal nanocrystallites supported by carbon sheet for various applications. The chapter four describes another carbon-related project I contributed about the electronic configuration evolution during the thermal reduction of graphite oxides using X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. It is found that the thermal annealing removes most functional groups on the surfaces of the graphite oxide, and increases the electrical conductivity by six orders compared with the pristine graphite oxide.