In situ deposition of platinum nanoparticles on bacterial cellulose membranes and evaluation of PEM fuel cell performance

In situ deposition of platinum (Pt) nanoparticles on bacterial cellulose membranes (BC) for a fuel cell application was studied. The platinum/bacterial cellulose (Pt/BC) membranes under different experimental conditions were characterized by using SEM (scanning electron microscopy), TEM (transmission electron microscopy), EDS (energy dispersive spectroscopy), XRD (X-ray diffractometry) and TG (thermogravimetric analysis) techniques. TEM images and XRD patterns both lead to the observation of spherical metallic platinum nanoparticles with mean diameter of 3-4 nm well impregnated into the BC fibrils. TG curves revealed these Pt/BC composite materials had the high thermal stability. The electrosorption of hydrogen was investigated by CV (cyclic voltammetry). It was found that Pt/BC catalysts have high electrocatalytic activity in the hydrogen oxidation reaction. The single cell performance of Pt/BC was tested at 20 degrees C, 30 degrees C, and 40 degrees C under non-humidified conditions. Preliminary tests on a single cell indicate that renewable BC is a good prospect to be explored as membrane in fuel cell field [B.R. Evans, H.M. O'Neill, V.P. Malyvanh, I. Lee, J. Woodward, Biosens. Bioelectron. 18 (2003) 917]. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.