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Electrocatalytic Activity towards Oxygen Reduction of Mesoporous Carbon /Conducting Polymer Composites Application to PEM Fuel Cells

Pages: 115-118

D. Pacheco-Catalan^1,2,*, E. Morales¹, M. Smit², and J. L. Acosta¹

¹Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Polímeros CSIC, c/ Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006 Madrid, Spain.
²Unidad de Materiales, Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, A. C., Mérida Yucatán México. C. P. 97200.

Received: April 2, 2009, Accepted: June 10, 2009

Abstract:
Porous carbon/conducting polymers composites were synthesized by oxidative chemical polymerization of vacuum adsorbed monomers inside the pores of a mesoporous carbon, with the aim of increasing the catalytic activity of the polymer towards oxygen by increasing the active surface. The results obtained indicate a decrease on the carbon/polymer composite specific surface compared with the pristine mesoporous carbon, without drastic changes in the pore structure. The electrochemical characterization of the composites suggest some kind of catalytic activity towards oxygen reduction, but overlapped with oxidation/reduction processes associated to the surface active groups of the carbon, except for the carbon/polythiophene composite where a process at -0.30 V vs SCE, attributable to the oxygen reduction was clearly detected.

Keywords:

Conducting polymer, mesoporous carbon, oxygen reduction