Application of polyoxometalate/carbon nitride nanotubes nanocomposite for directly methanol oxidation

Abstract

Fuel cell in this study consumes methanol as fuel and they are very important for clean environment and effective energy conversion. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is carbon allotrope among carbon based nanomaterials. It consists of C-N bonds in p-based polymer. Polyoxometalates (POMs) are redox-active materials and have crucial potential for direct methanol oxidation and energy storage. POMs attract important interest because they included in high-valent metals and anionic metal oxides. In present report, the nanocomposite of polyoxometalate/C3N4 NTs was synthesized and applied for fuel cell. Firstly, the structure of prepared nanocomposite was investigated by transmission electron microscope (TEM), x-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). After that, the voltammetric measurements were performed by using nanocomposite modified electrode. The electrochemical active areas of POM-C3N4 NTs/GCE and C3N4 NTs/GCE are 0.511 cm(2) and 0.169 cm(2), respectively. The prepared nanocomposite demonstrated active catalytic effect towards methanol.