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Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells: Role of Carbon Nanotubes/Graphene in Cathode Catalysis

  • Chapter
Handbook of Polymer Nanocomposites. Processing, Performance and Application

Abstract

Fuel cells are power generation devices converting chemical energy into electric energy by electrochemical reactions. Among various types of fuel cells, hydrogen-oxygen (H2-O2) based proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells have attracted special attention due to their high efficiency, low temperature operation, and suitability for low to medium power generation. However, the requirement of high cost catalysts (platinum and its alloys) for both cathodic and anodic reactions makes them unsuitable for commercial applications. Development of efficient catalysts with reduced cost has drawn considerable scientific attention. This chapter reviews the PEM fuel cell cathode catalysis in terms of challenges and progress in the field with an emphasis on the application of carbon nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and graphene. Owing to their promising properties such as high electronic conductivity, corrosion resistance, and large surface area, carbon nanomaterials are suitable for catalyst support materials. Apart from this, doped carbon nanomaterials show potential toward the development of metal-free catalysts.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by Department of Science and Technology Nano Mission, India, for carrying out this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Nanoengineering Materials Laboratory, Materials Science Programme, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, 208016, India

    Raghunandan Sharma, Jayesh Cherusseri & Kamal K. Kar

  2. Advanced Nanoengineering Materials Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, 208016, India

    Kamal K. Kar

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  1. Raghunandan Sharma
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Correspondence to Kamal K. Kar .

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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Programme, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, India

    Kamal K. Kar

  2. University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), Dehradun, India

    Jitendra K. Pandey

  3. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Sravendra Rana

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Sharma, R., Cherusseri, J., Kar, K.K. (2015). Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells: Role of Carbon Nanotubes/Graphene in Cathode Catalysis. In: Kar, K., Pandey, J., Rana, S. (eds) Handbook of Polymer Nanocomposites. Processing, Performance and Application. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-45229-1_81

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