Synthetic Porous Carbon As Support Of Platinum Nanoparticles For Fuel Cell Electrodes

M.M. BRUNO; J. BALACH; N.G.COTELLA; G. A. PLANES; C.A. BARBERO

Santiago, Chile

Congreso; 10th International Conference on Frontiers of Polymers and Advanced Materials; 2009

Porous vitreous carbon can be produced by pyrolisis of resorcinol-formaldehyde porous resin. Using surfactants as stabilizers, it is possible to dry the porous resin in air without pore collapse. Having a large surface area (> 500 m2/g) and high electronic conductivity makes the materials suitable as support of electrocatalyst nanoparticles. Pt nanoparticles were prepared by a microemulsion method [1] and impregnated into the carbon pores by absorption from its suspension. The cyclic volatammogran of the modified electrode in presence of CO does not show current due to CO oxidation to CO2. On the other hand, the differential electrochemical mass spectroscopy (DEMS) signal clearly shows CO2 production.