catalyst support for fuel cell applications

Polypyrrole (PPy)/Carbon composites were synthesized by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization of pyrrole monomer on carbon black. Effects of polymerization temperature (either 0 degrees C or 25 degrees C) and different dopants including p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TSA) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on the properties of the composites were investigated. The synthesized composites were characterized by XRD, FTIR and TGA. Electrical conductivities of the composites were determined by using four-point probe technique. Electrochemical oxidation characteristics of the synthesized PPy/Carbon composites were investigated by cyclic voltammetry via potential holding experiments. The PPy/Carbon composites synthesized at 0 degrees C and with p-TSA as dopant showed the best oxidation resistance than carbon and other composites. Copyright (C) 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

High-mobility graphene on liquid p-block elements by ultra-low-loss CVD growth

The high-quality and low-cost of the graphene preparation method decide whether graphene is put into the applications finally. Enormous efforts have been devoted to understand and optimize the CVD process of graphene over various d-block transition metals (e.g. Cu, Ni and Pt). Here we report the growth of uniform high-quality single-layer, single-crystalline graphene flakes and their continuous films over p-block elements (e.g. Ga) liquid films using ambient-pressure chemical vapor deposition. The graphene shows high crystalline quality with electron mobility reaching levels as high as 7400 cm(2) V(−1)s(−1) under ambient conditions. Our employed growth strategy is ultra-low-loss. Only trace amounts of Ga are consumed in the production and transfer of the graphene and expensive film deposition or vacuum systems are not needed. We believe that our research will open up new territory in the field of graphene growth and thus promote its practical application