Journal of Applied Science and Engineering

Published by Tamkang University Press

1.30

Impact Factor

1.60

CiteScore

Shu Wen Ooi1, Nordin Sabli This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.1,2, and Shamsul Izhar Siajam1

1Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Malaysia
2Institute of Advanced Technology (ITMA), Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Malaysia


 

Received: December 29, 2021
Accepted: April 17, 2022
Publication Date: July 28, 2022

 Copyright The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are cited.


Download Citation: ||https://doi.org/10.6180/jase.202304_26(4).0010  


ABSTRACT


Proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) requires a high-efficiency catalyst to overcome the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode side, thus N-doped graphene was introduced as an alternative catalyst. Ball milling is one of the approaches that is economical, scalable, and green to synthesize N-doped graphene. The ball milling parameters will greatly affect the quality of the synthesized N-doped graphene. Hence, this study aimed to access the ball milling duration effect on the synthesized N-doped graphene for the ORR improvement. N-doped graphene was synthesized through ball-milled graphite and melamine with different ball milling durations. The duration evaluated in this work was between 30 minutes to 50 hours. The results showed that the ball milling duration positively affects the ORR performance of N-doped graphene from 30 minutes to 12 hours. The best performance of N-doped graphene that synthesized through ball-milled 12 hours exhibits onset potential of -0.6 V and achieved almost four electrons transferred. This study concludes that ball milling duration significantly affects the quality of N-doped graphene for PEMFC but with an optimum duration, which is 12 hours.


Keywords: N-doped Graphene, Ball Milling Duration, Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR), Fuel Cell


REFERENCES


  1. [1] A. Z.Weber, S. Balasubramanian, and P. K. Das. “Proton exchange membrane fuel cells”. In: Advances in Chemical Engineering. 41. Elsevier, 2012, 65–144. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-386874-9.00003-8.
  2. [2] Z.Wu, M. Song, J.Wang, and X. Liu, (2018) “Recent Progress in Nitrogen-Doped Metal-Free Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction": 1–17. DOI: 10.3390/catal8050196.
  3. [3] S. Zhuang, B. B. Nunna, D. Mandal, and E. S. Lee, (2018) “A review of nitrogen-doped graphene catalysts for proton exchange membrane fuel cells-synthesis, characterization, and improvement" Nano-Structures and Nano-Objects 15: 140–152. DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoso.2017.09.003.
  4. [4] O. S. Soares, R. P. Rocha, A. G. Gonçalves, J. L. Figueiredo, J. J. Órfão, and M. F. Pereira, (2015) “Easy method to prepare N-doped carbon nanotubes by ball milling" Carbon 91: 114–121. DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2015.04.050.
  5. [5] I. Y. Jeon, H. J. Noh, and J. B. Baek, (2020) “Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanomaterials: Synthesis, Characteristics and Applications" Chemistry - An Asian Journal: DOI: 10.1002/asia.201901318.
  6. [6] M. Inagaki, M. Toyoda, Y. Soneda, and T. Morishita, (2018) “Nitrogen-doped carbon materials" Carbon: DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2018.02.024.
  7. [7] A. N. Fouda, E. S. M. Duraia, and A. A. Almaqwashi, (2020) “Facile and scalable green synthesis of N-doped graphene/CNTs nanocomposites via ball milling" Ain Shams Engineering Journal: DOI: 10.1016/j.asej.2020.04.011.
  8. [8] Y. She, J. Chen, C. Zhang, Z. Lu, M. Ni, P. H.-L. Sit, and M. K. Leung, (2017) “Oxygen Reduction Reaction Mechanism of Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Derived from Ionic Liquid" Energy Procedia 142: 1319–1326. DOI: 10.1016/j.egypro.2017.12.508.
  9. [9] L. Figueiredo and M. F. R. Pereira, (2016) “N-doped Carbon Nanotubes for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Alkaline Medium : Synergistic Relationship between Pyridinic and Quaternary Nitrogen": 2522–2530. DOI: 10.1002/slct.201600615.
  10. [10] R. Yadav and C. K. Dixit, (2017) Journal of Science: Advanced Materials and Devices 2: 141–149. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsamd.2017.05.007.
  11. [11] O. S. Soares, R. P. Rocha, A. G. Gonçalves, J. L. Figueiredo, J. J. Órfão, and M. F. Pereira, (2016) “Highly active N-doped carbon nanotubes prepared by an easy ball milling method for advanced oxidation processes" Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 192: 296–303. DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2016.03.069.
  12. [12] S. Zhuang, B. B. Nunna, J. A. Boscoboinik, and E. S. Lee, (2017) “Nitrogen-doped graphene catalysts: High energy wet ball milling synthesis and characterizations of functional groups and particle size variation with time and speed" International Journal of Energy Research 41: 2535–2554. DOI: 10.1002/er.3821.
  13. [13] S. Zhuang, E. S. Lee, L. Lei, B. B. Nunna, L. Kuang, and W. Zhang, (2016) “Synthesis of nitrogen-doped graphene catalyst by high-energy wet ball milling for electrochemical systems" International Journal of Energy Research: DOI: 10.1002/er.3595.
  14. [14] C. Liu, X. Liu, J. Tan, Q.Wang, H.Wen, and C. Zhang, (2017) “Nitrogen-doped graphene by all-solid-state ballmilling graphite with urea as a high-power lithium ion battery anode" Journal of Power Sources 342: 157–164. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.11.110.
  15. [15] R. Ranjan, R. S. Rai, and V. Bajpai, (2020) “A novel approach to synthesize nitrogen-doped graphene in aspects of milling energy" Diamond and Related Materials 110: 108116. DOI: 10.1016/j.diamond.2020.108116.
  16. [16] , (2016) “Functionalized graphene nanoplatelets from ball milling for energy applications" Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering: DOI: 10.1016/j.coche.2016.01.003.
  17. [17] Z. Wu, Y. Liang, E. Fu, J. Du, P. Wang, Y. Fan, and Y. Zhao, (2018) “Effect of ball milling parameters on the refinement of tungsten powder" Metals: DOI: 10.3390/met8040281.
  18. [18] N. A. Huzaifah, N. Sabli, K. K. Ying, N. U. Saidin, and H. S. Hilal, (2020) “Enhancement of Characteristics of Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Composite Materials Prepared by Ball Milling of Graphite with Melamine: Effect of Milling Speed and Material Ratios" Sains Malaysiana 49: 1745–1754. DOI: 10.17576/jsm-2020-4907-24.
  19. [19] A. R. D. Osa, P. Sanchez, and A. Romero, (2020) “Towards new routes to increase the electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction of n-doped graphene nano fi bers" Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 878: 114631. DOI: 10.1016/j.jelechem.2020.114631.
  20. [20] K. Kakaei, G. Ghadimi, and K. Kakaei, (2020) “A green method for Nitrogen-doped graphene and its application for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline media reduction reaction in alkaline media" Materials Technology 00: 1–8. DOI: 10.1080/10667857.2020.1724692.
  21. [21] , (2020) “Iron-based electrocatalysts for energy conversion: Effect of ball milling on oxygen reduction activity" Applied Sciences (Switzerland) 10: DOI: 10.3390/APP10155278.
  22. [22] J. J. Lee, M. Y. Oh, and K. S. Nahm, (2016) “Effect of Ball Milling on Electrocatalytic Activity of Perovskite La 0.6 Sr 0.4 CoO 3-δ Applied for Lithium Air Battery" Journal of The Electrochemical Society 163: DOI: 10.1149/2.0561602jes.
  23. [23] T. D. N. Van, S. Sufian, N. Mansor, and N. Yahya, (2014) “Characterization of carbon nanofibers treated with thermal nitrogen as a catalyst support using point-ofzero charge analysis" Journal of Nanomaterials: DOI: 10.1155/2014/631069.
  24. [24] W. Sudarsono, W. Y. Wong, K. S. Loh, E. H. Majlan, N. Syarif, K. Y. Kok, R. M. Yunus, K. L. Lim, and I. Hamada, (2020) “Sengon wood-derived RGO supported Fe-based electrocatalyst with stabilized graphitic N-bond for oxygen reduction reaction in acidic medium" International Journal of Hydrogen Energy: DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.05.158.
  25. [25] D. Guo, R. Shibuya, C. Akiba, S. Saji, T. Kondo, and J. Nakamura, (2016) “Active sites of nitrogen-doped carbon materials for oxygen reduction reaction clarified using model catalysts" 351: 361–366.