Abstract
In this work, Co/Cr nanoparticles-decorated carbon nanofibers were studied as a platinum-free catalyst for electrooxidation of ethanol in the alkaline medium. The investigated nano composites were prepared by simple, high yield and effective technique; electrospinning of cobalt acetate, chromium acetate and polyvinyl alcohol as a polymer precursor at 20 kV followed by calcination under inert atmosphere at 900 degrees C for 2 h. The suitable physicochemical characterizations such as XRD, SEM, TEM, TEM mapping, Line TEM-EDX and FE-SEM indicated the formation of pure CoCr nanoparticles allocated in/on carbon nanofibers. Electro catalytic activity measurements showed that the investigated Co-Cr carbon nanofibers can be effectively utilized in ethanol electrooxidation in 1 mol/l KOH solution. The observed current density was 105 mA/cm(2) which is considered high value for non-precious electrocatalyst. Also, study the influence of Cr content in Cr-Co alloy toward ethanol oxidation was investigated to obtain the most effective composition. The suitable Cr concentration found to be 10% of Co content.