Enhanced oxygen reduction activity and durability of Pt catalysts supported on carbon nanofibers

Sebastián, David; Ruíz, Andrés García; Suelves, I.; Moliner, R.; Lázaro, M.J.; Baglio, V.; Stassi, A.; Aricò, A.S.

doi:10.1016/j.apcatb.2011.12.041

Cited by 112 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 43 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Specifically, three promising families of mesoporous carbons are: (1) carbon nanotubes (CNTs); (2) ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs); and (3) colloid imprinted carbons (CICs). Other carbon supports that have been investigated include carbon nanofibres [10,11] and carbon nanocoils [12,13]. Although some promising data has been reported for these additional carbon supports, the largest focus has been on the three main families listed above.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Mesoporous Carbon Supports for PEMFC Catalysts

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Over the past decade; a significant amount of research has been performed on novel carbon supports for use in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Specifically, carbon nanotubes, ordered mesoporous carbon, and colloid imprinted carbons have shown great promise for improving the activity and/or stability of Pt-based nanoparticle catalysts. In this work, a brief overview of these materials is given, followed by an in-depth discussion of our recent work highlighting the importance of carbon wall thickness when designing novel carbon supports for PEMFC applications. Four colloid imprinted carbons (CICs) were synthesized using a silica colloid imprinting method, with the resulting CICs having pores of 15 (CIC-15), 26 (CIC-26), 50 (CIC-50) and 80 (CIC-80) nm. These four CICs were loaded with 10 wt. % Pt and then evaluated as oxygen reduction (ORR) catalysts for use in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. To gain insight into the poorer performance of Pt/CIC-26 vs. the other three Pt/CICs, TEM tomography was performed, indicating that CIC-26 had much thinner walls (0-3 nm) than the other CICs and resulting in a higher OPEN ACCESSCatalysts 2015, 5 1047 resistance (leading to distributed potentials) through the catalyst layer during operation. This explanation for the poorer performance of Pt/CIC-26 was supported by theoretical calculations, suggesting that the internal wall thickness of these nanoporous CICs is critical to the future design of porous carbon supports.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Mesoporous Carbon Supports for PEMFC Catalysts

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…[2][3][4][5][6] Due to this problem with carbon, alternative support materials have been investigated. Considerable efforts have been made to develop and analyze alternative carbonbased support materials, including graphitized carbon black, [7][8][9] carbon nanotubes [10][11][12][13][14][15] and nanofibers, 14,15 mesoporous carbon, 16,17 and graphene. 15,[18][19][20] To fundamentally solve this technological issue and improve electrocatalyst durability, alternative carbon-free electrocatalyst support materials such as tin oxide (SnO 2 ) [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] and titanium oxide (TiO x ) [30][31][32][33][34] have also been proposed.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Platinum-Decorated Tin Oxide and Niobium-Doped Tin Oxide PEFC Electrocatalysts: Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity

Tsukatsune¹,

Takabatake²,

Noda³

et al. 2014

J. Electrochem. Soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Using tin oxide (SnO 2 ) and niobium-doped tin oxide (Nb-SnO 2 ) as alternative electrocatalyst support materials can effectively solve the issue of carbon corrosion in polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) cathodes. Here, we systematically explore the effect of support surface area, Pt loading, and Pt nanoparticle size on the electrochemistry of these carbon-free electrocatalysts. Reducing the Pt loading leads to an increase in electrochemical surface area, but the specific activity decreases as previously observed in conventional carbon based electrocatalysts. Removing residual chlorine impurities by replacing the H 2 PtCl 6 nanoparticle precursor with Pt(acac) 2 increases the specific activity. Niobium-doping of the SnO 2 support also results in an increase in specific activity, due to the increased electronic conductivity. Consequently, the oxygen reduction reaction activity of optimized Pt-decorated Nb-SnO 2 is approaching to that of Pt-decorated carbon black, the current state-of-the-art PEFC electrocatalyst. The polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEFC) is one of the most promising energy conversion technologies for e.g. residential and automotive applications. Pt nanoparticles supported on carbon black are widely used as electrocatalysts.1-6 However, carbon corrosion is an issue under high cathode potential, resulting in detachment of Pt catalyst particles from the carbon support, and leading to a decrease in electrochemical surface area (ECSA) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity over time. [2][3][4][5][6] 15,[18][19][20] To fundamentally solve this technological issue and improve electrocatalyst durability, alternative carbon-free electrocatalyst support materials such as tin oxide (SnO 2 ) 21-29 and titanium oxide (TiO x ) [30][31][32][33][34] have also been proposed. It has been shown that SnO 2 is a promising alternative platinum support, since it has good electronic conductivity and thermochemical stability under the strongly acidic cathode conditions in a PEFC. 28,[35][36][37] Remarkable retention of ESCA in Pt-decorated SnO 2 electrocatalysts has been demonstrated compared to Pt-decorated Vulcan carbon black, by severe voltage cycling (up to 60,000 cycles) between 0.9 and 1.3 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (V RHE ) in electrochemical half-cell durability tests. 28 Recently, the high durability has been confirmed in membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs), during more severe voltage cycling between 1.0 and 1.5 V RHE . 29 These studies have demonstrated the stability of Pt-decorated SnO 2 against the start-stop cycles typical in fuel cell vehicles. However, high ORR activity is also required for PEFC cathode electrocatalyst applications and this has not yet been demonstrated. Relatively low ORR activity has been reported to date compared with state-of-the-art Pt supported on carbon black. 28,36 Most of the ORR values have been measured below 0.9 V RHE for oxide-supported electrocatalysts, while the ORR of conventional Pt-decorated carbon black is usually evaluated at * Electroch...

show abstract

“…SEM study revealed that carbon appeared as long nanofilaments few microns long with a high degree of structural order as it was proved in previous works [18,19]. This material can be used in different areas as graphitic precursor for subsequent application as anode in the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries [26], as catalyst support in PEM fuel cells applications [27], or as additive in epoxy-based composites [28], among other applications.…”

Section: Catalyst Deactivation Studymentioning

confidence: 74%

CH4 and CO2 partial pressures influence and deactivation study on the Catalytic Decomposition of Biogas over a Ni catalyst

Llobet

Pinilla

Lázaro

et al. 2013

Fuel

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A conceptually similar approach to dry reforming of CH 4 (DRM) called Catalytic Decomposition of Biogas (CDB) is proposed. CDB is based on the direct decomposition of CH 4 and CO 2 , which are the most abundant components in biogas (typically with CH 4 :CO 2 molar ratios higher than 1). The main difference between DRM and CDB lies in the desired products obtained in each process. While in DRM carbon formation is not desired and thus avoided, in CDB carbon accumulation in form of filamentous structures is promoted. In this work, the effect of CH 4 and CO 2 partial pressures on the initial reaction rates of CDB was studied using a Ni/Al 2 O 3 catalyst. Furthermore, a deactivation study was carried out in order to determine the experimental conditions (CH 4 and CO 2 partial pressures and temperature) at which carbon formation did not deactivate the catalyst. It was proved that after a certain time on stream, CDB can reach the steady state even though the CH 4 :CO 2 molar ratio is higher than one (typical biogas conditions). In addition, temperature increased reaction rates since CDB is an endothermic process, but it had no effect on catalyst deactivation.

show abstract

Enhanced oxygen reduction activity and durability of Pt catalysts supported on carbon nanofibers

Cited by 112 publications

References 43 publications

Novel Mesoporous Carbon Supports for PEMFC Catalysts

Novel Mesoporous Carbon Supports for PEMFC Catalysts

Platinum-Decorated Tin Oxide and Niobium-Doped Tin Oxide PEFC Electrocatalysts: Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity

CH4 and CO2 partial pressures influence and deactivation study on the Catalytic Decomposition of Biogas over a Ni catalyst

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About