Effects of solution pH and preparation conditions on the electrochemical behaviors of Pt(111)-Nafion interface

Boosting Oxygen Reduction at Pt(111)|Proton Exchange Ionomer Interfaces through Tuning the Microenvironment Water Activity

“…Despite that, research on this type of interface is still very limited. Previous studies have clearly shown that sulfonate adsorption at the Pt|ionomer interface gives rise to the appearance of well-defined peaks in the double-layer region of the cyclic voltammograms (CVs). − For ionomers with longer side chains, the coverage of sulfonate adsorption is found to be higher, which correlates well with a stronger inhibition of kinetics for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). , Furthermore, the adsorption of the sulfonate group is confirmed to be enhanced with the drying of the ionomer, as indicated by a negative shift of the onset potential for its adsorption . A recent study suggests that an ionomer with a ring-structured backbone can deliver higher power density, probably due to the suppression of densely layered folding of polymer backbones near the catalyst surfaces, which mitigates the poisoning of the catalyst by sulfonate groups and increases oxygen solubility .…”