Synthesis of Carbon Quantum Dots Nanoparticles by Cyclic Voltammetry and Its Application as Methanol Tolerant Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalyst

Carbon quantum dot (CQD) nanoparticles are synthesized by one-step electrochemical method, cyclic voltammetry (CV), at different potentials using graphite rods and NaOH/EtOH as electrolyte. The electrochemically manufactured CQD is characterized by Transmission electron microscopy, Ultra violet absorption, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. The morphology and microstructure methods confirm the formation of high quality CQD. Finally, we design a new gas diffusion electrode (GDE) based on CQD pasted on carbon paper for the oxygen reduction reaction at cathode side as methanol tolerance in direct methanol fuel cell and compared it with standard Pt-C catalysts using cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry. The ORR results in presence of methanol indicate that the GDE prepared from CQD exhibits methanol tolerance compared to the GDE prepared from Pt/C (Electrochem).