Sara Khalili - Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Shiraz university, Shiraz, Iran
Javad Tashkhourian - Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Shiraz university, Shiraz, Iran
Behzad Haghighi - Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Shiraz university, Shiraz, Iran

Energy storage and conversion is a very important link between the steps of energy production and energy consumption. Traditional fossil fuels are a natural and unsustainable energy storage medium with limited reserves and notorious pollution problems, therefore demanding a better choice to store and utilize the green and renewable energies in the future. Direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) have emerged as promising and advanced power systems that can considerably reduce fossil fuel dependence, and thus have attracted worldwide attention (۱). Currently, designing and preparing low-cost and high-efficiency electrocatalysts remains a huge impediment for DEFCs (۳). In the present work, Ni-precursor prisms/Ni-metal organic framework (Ni- pre@Ni-MOF) micro composite was synthesized and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis (۴). The electrocatalytic properties and stabilities of Ni- pre@Ni-MOF modified carbon paste electrode (CPE) towards ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) were investigated using cyclic voltammetry (Fig. ۱.) and chronoamperometry. Ni-pre@Ni-MOF \exhibited favorable electrocatalytic performance with higher activity and higher stability for the ethanol oxidation reaction. The current density for Ni-pre@Ni-MOF in a KOH (۱.۵ M) containing ethanol (۲.۰ M) was ۱۶۰.۴۸ mA/cm۲. The results showed that the catalyst is a good candidate for application in ethanol sensor and ethanol fuel cells.

Electrocatalyst, Fuel Cell, Alcohol Oxidation, MOF, Nickel