Preparation of PtCo catalysts by electrodeposition for oxygen reduction in fuel

Abstract

For a lot of years humanity had relied on non-renewable energy resources such as oil or natural gas. However the threat of its depletion is becoming a reality. Another problem is the environmental impact resulting from the combustion of these fuels as they generate gases responsible for the greenhouse effect. In addition to the use of certain substances such as uranium entails greater risks of explosion and generation of radioactive products. Conventional renewable sources such as solar or wind power, although they have improved in recent years, they are still inefficient and unreliable. A future alternative for power generation are fuel cells. These are electrochemical devices designed to generate electricity, like a battery, but with the difference that the fuel cell produce electricity continuously while reagents are provided. To operate, the cell needs a fuel such as hydrogen or methanol, and oxygen. One of the main problems of these fuel cells is the slow kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction. Nowadays, the most used catalysts to reduce sobrepotencial are noble metals such as platinum, but these metals are expensive and this is another obstacle to the use of these devices as a source of energy. It has been observed that using some cheaper metals such as iron, cobalt or nickel alloy comprising platinum enhances the activity of the metal catalyst, in addition to reducing the cost of the electrodes...