Growth of binder free mesoporous 3D-CuCo₂O₄ electrocatalysts with high activity and stability for electro-oxidation of methanol

Abstract

Designing an active and reliable electrocatalyst is the urgent need for the desirable improvement in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). In recent time, binary metal oxides have shown much attention as possible electrocatalysts for the future DMFCs. Herein, we have reported direct growth of 3D-CuCo2O4 on Nickel foam (NF) by hydrothermal route for electrochemical methanol oxidation. The electrochemical performance was examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperommetry (CA) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. Electrochemical analysis of 3D-CuCo2O4 exhibits high current density of 112 A g(-1) at scan rate of 10 mV s(-1) and retains 91% of initial current density after 1000 C V cycles. The high electrocatalytic activity of mesoporous 3D-CuCo2O4 is mainly ascribed to the synergetic effect of bimetallic element (Cu and Co), high surface area and enhanced charge-transfer because of direct growth of catalyst on NF. The present synthesis strategy and use of spinel oxides can offer promising feature for the development of non-precious catalysts for DMFCs.