enhanced electrocatalytic behavior of melamine by its co-polymerization for oxidation of methanol

Abstract: among various types of fuel cells, direct methanol fuel cells (dmfcs) have attracted much attentions due to their interesting properties such as low operating temperature, high power density and relatively quick start-up. pt is recognized as the best monometallic electrocatalysts for methanol electrooxidation. however, scarcity, too pricey, and serious poisoning of pt make demands for improvement of pt efficiency. in this regard, supporting materials not only promote the charge transfer rate and improve the efficiency of the catalyst but also decrease the loss of catalyst owing to the strong interaction with the catalyst nanoparticles [1]. recently, the use of conducting polymers (cps) as the supporting materials due to high conductivity, stability, and activity remarkably improve the activity, speed, and over potential of reactions catalyzed on the polymeric supported metallic nanoparticles [2]. different factors can be affected the efficiency of polymeric substrate. for example, the conductive polymers based on melamine (1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triamine) possessing the amine groups significantly promote the immobilization and activity of catalytic nanoparticles. in addition, copolymerization technique that simultaneously polymerizes different monomers and achieves intended properties can enhance the recognition ability and stability of polymer films [3]. if the monomers can be electropolymerized under similar condition, copolymers can also be prepared by facile electrochemical methods. in these realities, we use the catalytic nanoparticles doped on a co-polymer based on melamine for electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol in alkaline media. the formation of co-polymer film on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode is performed by consecutive cyclic voltammetry (cv) in an acidic solution of two monomer. the effective parameters on the electropolymerization process are studied. the metallic nanoparticles supported on the optimized co-polymer exhibits the excellent activity of methanol oxidation reaction (mor) in alkaline media.