Surface Engineering of Carbon-Supported Platinum as a Route to Electrocatalysts with Superior Durability and Activity for PEMFC Cathodes

Abstract

Hydrogen fuel cells are regarded as a promising new carbon mitigation strategy to realize carbon neutrality. The exploitation of robust and efficient cathode catalysts is thus vital to the commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Herein, we demonstrate a facile and scalable surface engineering route to achieve superior durability and high activity of a Pt-based material as a PEMFC cathode catalyst through a controllable liquid-phase reduction approach. The proposed surface engineering strategy by modifying Pt/C reduces the oxygen content on the carbon support and also decreases the surface defects on Pt nanoparticles (NPs), which effectively alleviate the corrosion of carbon and inhibit the detachment, agglomeration, and growth of Pt NPs. The resulting catalyst exhibits superior durability after a 10,000 potential cycling test in an acid electrolyteoutperforming commercial Pt/C. Moreover, the catalyst also demonstrates an improved oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity in comparison to commercial Pt/C by virtue of the high content of metallic Pt and the weakened Pt–OH bonding that releases more Pt active sites for ORR catalysis. Most importantly, the developed catalyst shows outstanding PEMFC performance and excellent long-term durability over 50 h of a constant-current test and 100 h of a load-cycling operation. This effective route provides a new avenue for exploiting robust Pt-based catalysts with superior activity in practical applications of PEMFCs.

A Critical Review on Artificial Intelligence for Fuel Cell Diagnosis

“…The proton species present in the acid group are dissociated and become solvated when the membrane is hydrated. Inside the polymer, the solvated protons are free and produce electrolyte conductivity [20,[27][28][29][30]. PEMFCs are capable of having a power output of 1-300 kW with a high cost [17].…”

Investigation of multiple commercial electrocatalysts and electrocatalyst degradation for fuel cells in real vehicles

“…1b-d). 10,29 Also, according to the literature, Pt NPs mainly exist in mesopores as the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalytic sites. 29,30 Hence, with regard to the carbon support only, the support of Cat.B presents an impressive pore structure for Pt/C catalysts, closely followed by the support of Cat.C.…”

Perovskite-Carbon Joint Substrate for Practical Application in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells under Low-Humidity/High-Temperature Conditions

“…The advancements of technologies for renewable energy are increasingly valuable owing to the enhanced consciousness of environmental protection. − In this regard, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with high efficiency and environmentally friendly characteristics are known as one of the most promising technologies. − For military use or portable power applications, etc., new advantages are revealed by operating PEMFCs at low-humidity/high-temperature conditions, such as easier water management, higher reaction rates, obviating the need for saturating reactant gases, improved CO tolerance by the anode electrocatalyst. − However, the proton conductivity of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) decreases considerably at low-humidity/high-temperature, inducing large resistive losses and the decrease in cell voltage. − …”