Journal
ACS CATALYSIS
Volume 5, Issue 8, Pages 4819-4824Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.5b01037
Keywords
alkaline electrolytes; carbon-supported platinum nanoparticles (Pt/C); high-surface-area carbon; durability; identical location transmission electron microscopy (ILTEM); Raman spectroscopy
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Funding
- la Region Rhone-Alpes (ARC Energies)
- French IUF
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The stability of carbon-supported electrocatalysts has been largely investigated in acidic electrolytes, but the literature is much scarcer regarding similar stability studies in alkaline medium. Herein, the degradation of Vulcan XC-72-supported platinum nanoparticles (noted Pt/C), a state-of-the-art proton exchange membrane fuel cell electrocatalyst, is investigated in alkaline medium by combining electrochemical measurements and identical location transmission electron microscopy; electrochemical surface area (ECSA) losses were bridged to electrocatalyst morphological changes. The results demonstrate that the degradation in 0.1 M NaOH at 25 degrees C is severe (60% of ECSA loss after only 150 cycles between 0.1 and 1.23 V vs RHE), which is about 3 times worse than in acidic media for this soft accelerated stress test. Severe carbon corrosion has been ruled out according to Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements, and it seems that the chemistry of the carbon support (in particular, the interface (chemical bounding)) between the Pt nanoparticles and their carbon substrate does play a significant role in the observed degradations.
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