Citation :

Diego González-Quijano, Wilian J. Pech-Rodríguez, Eduardo Rubio, César Chávez-Olivares, Gladis G. Suárez-Velázquez, Jesús A. Diaz-Real, Francisco J. Rodríguez-Varela, "Cost-Effective Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Nanomaterials for Direct Alcohol Fuel Cell Applications," International Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, vol. 13, no. 10, pp. 171-178, 2026. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23488379/IJEEE-V13I10P112

Abstract

A low-cost, computer-controlled modification of a domestic microwave oven is developed to achieve precise, programmable control of microwave irradiation during the polyol synthesis of fuel cell catalysts, a level of control previously restricted to costly, laboratory-grade microwave reactors. Platinum-on-Carbon (Pt/C) catalysts are synthesized by the polyol method using two heating sources, a conventional stirring hotplate and the modified microwave oven operated under intermittent heating, and are compared with a commercial Pt/C (20 wt.%) catalyst. The microwave-assisted route reduces the heating stage of the synthesis from 3 h to 15 min and yields a catalyst with crystallite size, electrochemically active surface area, and ethanol oxidation activity comparable to those of the conventionally synthesized and commercial references. These results show that a domestic microwave oven adapted with programmable control is a viable and accessible tool for the laboratory-scale synthesis of fuel cell electrocatalysts.

Keywords

Catalyst synthesis, Fuel cells, Microwave-Assisted, Microwave modification, Polyol methods.

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