Indrek Tallo

The electrochemical activity of two binary alloy catalysts toward oxygen reduction reaction in 0.1 M KOH

The platinum group metals (Pt, Ir and Ru) and the carbide-derived carbon support with the very high specific surface area were used to synthesise the low noble metal loading Pt-C, IrPt-C and RuPt-C alloy catalysts. The alloying of the platinum group metals in the studied catalysts was proved by the several independent physical characterization methods like: the X-ray diffraction, time of flight secondary ion mass-spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The electrocatalytic activity toward oxygen reduction reaction of the synthesised catalysts in an alkaline solution was studied and compared with the commercially available Pt-Vulcan. The combined and detail approach using the transmission electron microscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for estimation of the surface area of metal particles is provided. The noticeably higher calculated mass corrected and specific kinetic current density values for Pt-C catalyst were established. For IrPt-C and RuPt-C alloy catalysts, mass corrected current density values are comparable with the commercial Pt-Vulcan. The specific kinetic current density values increase in the following sequence: RuPt-C < IrPt-C < Pt-Vulcan < Pt-C.

Replacing Chlorine with Hydrogen Chloride as a Possible Reactant for Synthesis of Titanium Carbide Derived Carbon Powders for High-Technology Devices

Micro- and mesoporous carbide-derived carbons were synthesized from titanium carbide (TiC) powder via gas phase reaction by using different reactants (Cl2 and HCl) within the temperature range from 700 to 1100 °C. Analysis of XRD results show that TiC-derived carbons (TiC-CDC) consist mainly of graphitic crystallites. The first-order Raman spectra showed the graphite-like absorption peaks at ~1577 cm1 and the disorder-induced peaks at ~1338 cm-1. The energy-related properties of supercapacitors based on 1 M (C2H5)3CH3NBF4 in acetonitrile and carbide-derived carbons (TiC-CDC (Cl2) and TiC-CDC (HCl)) as electrode materials were also investigated using cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, galvanostatic charge/discharge and constant power methods. The Ragone plots for carbide-derived carbons prepared by using different reactants (Cl2, HCl) are quite similar and at high power loads TiC-CDC (Cl2) material synthesized at 900 °C, i.e. materials with optimal porous structure, deliver higher power at constant energy.