Reduced Graphene Oxide-Supported Co₃O₄ Nanocomposite Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Glucose–Oxygen Fuel Cells
2020
Madhura, T Ravindran | Gnana Kumar, Georgepeter | Ramaraj, Ramasamy
Designing a high-performance electrocatalyst is very important for producing energy systems such as glucose–oxygen fuel cells (GFCs). Here, we report the preparation of a nanocomposite material consisting of different weight percentages of reduced graphene oxide-supported (5, 10, and 20 wt %) cobalt oxide nanoparticles (rGO–Co₃O₄). The corresponding modified electrodes exhibited bifunctional electrocatalytic behavior toward both glucose oxidation and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The rGO–Co₃O₄ nanocomposite material is prepared and characterized by thermogravimetry analysis, X-ray diffraction, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, selected area electron diffraction, the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method, the Barret–Joyner–Halenda method, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and electrochemical analysis. Among different weight percentages of rGO, 10 wt % GO in the rGO–Co₃O₄ nanocomposite-modified electrode shows stable electrooxidation of glucose with a rapid response time of 1 s with a 0.4 μM limit of detection and a 1008 μA mM–¹ cm–² sensitivity. In addition, rGO–Co₃O₄ (10 wt % GO)-modified electrodes show less negative potential with a large kinetic current and better catalytic durability for ORR. Thus, rGO–Co₃O₄ (10 wt % GO) is employed as a bifunctional catalyst in cost-effective GFCs and obtains a power density output of 0.7319 mW cm–².
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