آتنا نعیمی

In this work, tin (IV) oxide (SnO2) nanoparticles were synthesized based on Amaranthus spinosus plant. The produced graphene oxide by a modifed Hummers’ method was functionalized with melamine (mRGO) and used accompanied by natural bentonite (Bnt) and extracted chitosan from shrimp wastes to prepare Bnt-mRGO-CH. This was utilized as novel support for anchoring Pt and SnO2 nanoparticles to prepare the novel Pt-SnO2/Bnt-mRGO-CH catalyst. The crystalline structure, morphology and uniform dispersion of nanoparticles in the prepared catalyst were determined by TEM images and XRD technique. The electrocatalytic performance of the Pt-SnO2/Bnt-mRGO-CH catalyst was evaluated for methanol electro-oxidation through electrochemical investigations including cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and chronoamperometry techniques. Pt-SnO2/BntmRGO-CH showed enhanced catalytic activity compared to Pt/Bnt-mRGO-CH and Pt/Bnt-CH catalysts considering its higher electrochemically active surface area, higher mass activity, and better stability for methanol oxidation. SnO2/Bnt-mRGO and Bnt-mRGO nanocomposites were also synthesized and did not show any signifcant activity for methanol oxidation. The results showed that Pt-SnO2/BntmRGO-CH could be a promising catalyst as anode material in direct methanol fuel cells