electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol at the surface of carbon paste electrode modified with graphene oxide and cu-al layered double hydroxide composite

Abstract: in recent years, excessive consumption of non-renewable energy sources caused human being concern. fuel cells technology is recognized as one of the best alternatives for future energy sources. in this direction, a direct methanol fuel cell (dmfc) is one of these systems that is a suitable choice to solve the challenges of energy crisis and environmental issues. one of the challenges in this field is the preparation of efficient electrocatalysts for the electrooxidation of methanol as a fuel [1-3]. in this work, go@cu-al ldh composite was prepared and characterized by using xrd, ft-ir, fe-sem, eds and bet techniques. therefore, go@cu-al ldh composite modified carbon paste electrode was used as anode for studying the electrooxidation of methanol in alkaline media. the electrocatalytic performance of the modified electrode was also evaluated for methanol electrooxidation in alkaline media by using various electrochemical methods such as cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. comparing the activity of prepared go@cu-al ldh and cu-al ldh electrocatalysts modified carbon paste electrodes have shown respectively the current densities of 2.1 ma/cm2 and 0.6 ma/cm2, in 0.5 m methanol and 0.1 m naoh solution by using cv method with a scan rate of 50 mv s-1. the results proved that go@cu-al ldh composite with suitable properties related to peresent of both go and ldh, has higher current density and more stability than cu-al ldh. the go@cu-al ldh electrocatalyst is considered cost-effective due to its simple method of synthesis and lack of precious and noble metals [4-6].