One of the most important problems in the development of proton exchange membrane fuel cells remains the selection of an efficient electrocatalyst support capable of providing a low loading of active metal with minimal changes in the electrochemical surface, electronic conductivity, and activity. In this work, carbon nanotube arrays (CNTAs) grown directly on commercial gas diffusion layers (GDLs) are used to form electrodes of a new type. The CNTAs are used in the electrode as a microporous layer. The catalytic layer is formed in the microporous layer by a method that does not destroy the carbon support structure and consists of the controlled impregnation of CNTAs with the Pt-precursor with subsequent reduction in platinum particles in the surface volume of the layer. The resulting electrode was studied by scanning/transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. This electrode provides increased electrical conductivity of the layer and can also improve stability and longer service life due to the enhanced adhesion of carbon materials to the GDL.

The prospects of composite materials based on polymer matrices with the inclusion of carbon nanotubes, including oriented carbon nanotubes, as both functio

A weak thermal conductivity (TC) of a polymer can be modified by inclusion of nanoparticles with high TC. Here we study the TC enhancement in epoxy resin (ER) based composites by incorporation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and demonstrate that the enhancement depends critically on the alignment of CNTs. The highest effect in TC enhancement (18.9) was obtained in ER with vertically aligned multiwall CNTs (VANTs) and in ER with horizontally aligned nanotubes (HANTs) (6.5). We analyze the influence of intrinsic structural factors of CNTs as well as extrinsic factors limiting the enhancement of the composite TC. The dynamics of heat propagation in ER/VANT, a strongly anisotropic and heterogeneous system, was studied experimentally, using laser flash apparatus (LFA), and by computer simulation, applying a coaxial cylinder model. It was found that the thermal resistivity CNT-ER interface to be a key extrinsic factor limiting the dynamics of the heat propagation. We show that these dynamics and the interface resistivity can be efficiently studied using the LFA technique.

The techniques of pyrolytic vapor deposition from acetylene and plasma-arc vacuum deposition of graphite are used to prepare carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Graphite electrodes for plasma-arc deposition are premodified with transition metals by electrochemical deposition from aqueous solutions of their salts. It is shown by SEM and AFM that the structure and morphology of the surface of CNT samples depends on the synthesis technique.

This article discusses the problem of analyzing Raman scattering spectra for carbon nanotubes and establishing the connection of the observed features with

The possibility of using polymer composite materials based on epoxy resins with the inclusion of carbon nanotubes as coatings with a low coefficient of secondary electron emission has been studied. Four types of samples were obtained: epoxy polymer, polymer composites with fillers (non-oriented and oriented carbon nanotubes, carbon soot). It is shown that the secondary electron emission yield depends on the structure of the introduced carbon filler, and polymer composites with oriented nanotubes exhibit antidynatron properties.