Synthesis and characterization of Co/SrCO₃ nanorods-decorated carbon nanofibers as novel electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation in alkaline medium

In this study, Co/SrCO₃ nanorods-decorated carbon nanofibers are introduced as novel and effective electrocatalyst for alkaline methanol fuel cells. Synthesis of the presented nanostructure could be achieved by calcination of electrospun mat composed of strontium acetate (SrAc), cobalt acetate (CoAc) and poly(vinyl alcohol) in nitrogen environment at 600 °C. The crystal structure was verified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) while the morphology was observed using FESEM and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). In addition, further evidence for the chemical composition of the product was obtained by energy dispersive analysis of X-ray (EDX). The invoked characterization technique indicated that the obtained material is composed of Co/SrCO₃ nanorods-decorated carbon nanofibers. The electrochemical oxidation of methanol was investigated in the alkaline medium using cyclic voltammetry (CV) analysis. The introduced modified carbon nanofibers exhibited distinct electrocatalytic activity toward methanol electro-oxidation as the corresponding onset potential was very small (~ 0.08 V vs. Ag/AgCl) compared to the reported non-precious electro-catalysts. Moreover, the corresponding current density increased with increasing methanol concentration in the alkaline medium.