Synthesis and application of nanoporous carbon as an electrocatalyst support for electrooxidation of methanol in direct methanol fuel cell

Carbon materials have been applied in various areas, including gas separation, catalyst support and electrodes for electrochemical devices. Various meso and nanoporous carbon materials with pore size from 2 to 50 nm have been synthesized using nanostructured silica materials as templates [1]. Here we report on the synthesis of nanoporous carbon from polymer-silica composites, which were synthesized by phloroglucinol-formaldehyde [2]. (PF) polymerization in the presence of uniform size silica particles using KOH as the base catalyst. After carbonization and subsequent removal of the silica template, the polymer-silica composites turned into nanoporous carbon with high surface area. The resulting nanoporous carbons were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, nitrogen adsorption isotherm and thermogravimetry. The surface area of the PF-based nanoporous carbon was ~ 900 m2 g-1. Platinum was anchored on the nanoporous carbon by the microwave assisted polyol process and the resulting supported catalyst was used as the electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation in acidic solutions. The results indicated that electrooxidation of methanol occurs at a lower potential with higher electrocatalytic activity compared to the same catalyst on the conventional support (Vulcan XC- 72R). This can be related to high surface area of the nanoporous carbon which significantly increases the metal disperation and effect particle size, resulting in favoured electrochemical processes during methanol oxidation [3].