An Efficient Electrocatalyst (PtCo/C) for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is paid much more attention because of the high overpotential required for driving the four-electron process in the field of storage and sustainable energy conversion, including fuel cell applications. In this paper, PtCo nanoparticles encapsulated on carbon supports were prepared by a simple modified polyol method with ethylene glycol. Structural as well as electrochemical characterizations illustrated that the PtCo/C electrocatalysts had a minimum particle size of 4.8 nm, which is close to the commercial 40 wt% Pt/JM. Moreover, the electrochemical measurements indicated that ORR activity was competitive with the commercial 40 wt% Pt/JM catalyst. The synthesis method is a critical way to produce PtCo/C catalysts for use in polymer electrolyte membranes in fuel cells (PEMFCs).

Automated summary

This study presents a simple modified polyol method for preparing carbon-supported PtCo nanoparticles with similar particle size and activity to commercial catalysts. The findings are of great significance for the synthesis of PtCo/C catalysts in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.