Pt Nanoparticles Incorporated Znfe2o4 Nanoparticles Supported on Hollow Poly(aniline-co-pyrrole)/Chitosan as a Novel Catalyst for Methanol Oxidation

In this work, hollow Poly(aniline-co-pyrrole) (HAP) nanoparticles were synthesized and utilized accompanied by chitosan (CH) to prepare the novel HAP-CH support for metal nanoparticles. ZnFe2O4 (ZFO) nanoparticles were synthesized and incorporated on HAP-CH support to enhance the catalytic activity of Pt nanoparticles in the novel Pt-ZFO/HAP-CH nanocatalyst for methanol electro-oxidation. The prepared catalysts were characterized by Transmission electron microscopy images, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, and X-ray powder diffraction analysis. The electrocatalytic performance of Pt-ZFO/HAP-CH nanocatalyst was assessed towards methanol electro-oxidation by some electrochemical techniques including electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, chronoamperometry, and cyclic voltammetry, and compared with that of Pt/HAP-CH. Electrochemical results illustrated that Pt-ZFO/HAP-CH nanocatalyst has higher electrocatalytic activity and durability than that of the Pt/HAP-CH, which is owing to the higher electrochemically active surface area, higher mass activity, better durability, and lower charge transfers resistance. The superior catalytic performance of Pt-ZFO/HAP-CH nanocatalyst reveals that it can be a promising catalyst for developing direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs).