Design of highly efficient functionalized graphene-supported Pt based catalyst for PEM fuel cells

Sustainable development which favours renewable energy sources over traditional energy source is the trend industries around the world are adopting. This trend is seen by many scientists and engineers as a long term goal in development due to the technical challenges at improving energy efficiencies of renewable energy resource like wind, tidal, solar power and fuel cells. When energy efficiencies are brought up, the cost of generating power of such resources could be brought down thereby encouraging commercialization of such energy resource[1] . This report investigates whether PEM fuel cell efficiency can be improved by functionalizing carbon based compounds like carbon black, graphene and Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) with platinum (Pt) catalyst. The efficiency of a fuel cell depends on how well its three phase boundary is at retaining Pt catalyst particles[2] as there is a constant loss of catalyst due to corrosion of carbon support and dissolution and redeposition of Pt particles[3]. This final year project aims to find out whether highly functionalized carbon support can improve the retention rate of Pt catalyst particle in a PEM fuel cell in operation. In doing so, the result should show an improvement in energy efficiency and better Pt particle distribution in a half cell test as well as a Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) image. This project involves 2 other treatments on carbon support to functionalize their electrochemical properties. Three different carbon supports were used and two optimum Pt catalyst loadings employed in this experiment.Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering