@inproceedings{MbuaMuellerRichteretal., author = {Mbua, Roy and M{\"u}ller, Klaus and Richter, Matthias and Henkel, Karsten and Paloumpa, Ioanna and Schmeißer, Dieter and Kramm, Ulricke}, title = {Investigation of new Catalysts for PEM Fuel Cells}, series = {Verhandlungen der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft, Reihe 6, Bd. 46}, booktitle = {Verhandlungen der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft, Reihe 6, Bd. 46}, publisher = {Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft}, address = {Bad Honnef}, issn = {0420-0195}, pages = {S. 483}, abstract = {Increasing green house emissions amplify global warming concerns worldwide. Fuel cells, based on polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM) are part of the solution to this issue. We aim at developing and testing new catalysts for fuel cells. Platinum catalysts perform best in PEM fuel cells to date but they are very expensive. For fuel cells to be perfectly applicable and economically affordable, an alternative catalyst with similar or even greater efficiency should be developed. Metal phthalocyanines are known to be good oxygen reduction catalysts and are associated with high electron transfer properties. We investigated Cobalt Phthalocyanine in its pure state mixed with Carbon Black (CoPc:Carbon Black=1:9) untreated and also after a treatment in N2 at several temperatures, up to 1000°C for 30 minutes. Results of XPS and EDX analyses reveal that the treatment at higher temperatures causes a rearrangement in the chemical states of Co, N and C atoms. Furthermore, results of cycling voltammetry (CV) analysis reveal that CoPc treated in N2 at 800°C exhibited a higher current density, in conclusion, a higher catalytic activity than the untreated CoPc.}, language = {en} }