Tailored synthesis and optimization of nickel-molybdenum carbide-graphite nanofiber composite for enhanced ethanol electrooxidation

A novel nickel-molybdenum carbide-graphite nanofiber composite is introduced as an electrocatalyst for ethanol electrooxidation. The proposed nanofibers have been prepared by calcinating electrospun nanofibers composed of nickel acetate tetrahydrate, molybdenum chloride, and polyvinyl alcohol. The calcination process was conducted at different temperatures (700, 850, and 1000°C) under a nitrogen gas atmosphere with a heating rate of 2.5 deg/min and a holding time of 5 h. Physicochemical characterizations have indicated that nickel acetate is entirely reduced to nickel metal during the sintering process, and molybdenum has bonded with carbon to produce molybdenum carbide. At the same time, the used polymer has been pyrolyzed to produce a carbon nanofiber matrix embedding formed inorganic nanoparticles. Electrochemical measurements concluded that molybdenum content and calcination temperature should be controlled to maximize the electrocatalytic activity of the proposed catalyst. Typically, the oxidation peak current density was 28.5, 28.8, 51.5, 128.3, 25.6, and 3 mA/cm2 for nanofibers prepared from an electrospun solution containing 0, 5, 10, 15, 25, and 35 wt% molybdenum carbide, respectively. Moreover, it was observed that increasing the calcination temperature distinctly improves the electrocatalytic activity. Kinetic studies have indicated that the reaction order is close to zero with a reaction temperature-dependent value. Moreover, it was detected that the electrooxidation reaction of ethanol over the proposed nanofiber composite follows the Arrhenius equation. The determined activation energy is 33 kJ/mol, which indicates good catalytic activity for the introduced nanofibers. Through the application of a set of visualization-based tools and the general linear model (GLM), the optimal conditions that generate the highest current density were identified. The computations unveiled that the optimal parameter settings are as follows: Mo content at 15 wt.%, methanol concentration of 1.55 M, and reaction temperature of 59°C.