Enhanced electrocatalysis of PtRu onto graphene separated by Vulcan carbon spacer

For low temperature polymer fuel cells, carbon supporting material is an important factor that may affect the performance of supported electrocatalysts owing to interactions and surface reactivity. In this research, we design a well-arranged structure of graphene-Vulcan carbon composite to prepare highly dispersed 40 wt.% PtRu electrocatalysts. The Vulcan carbon is added as a nano spacer to enhance electrocatalytic activities of the PtRu catalysts in a methanol oxidation and fuel cell performance resulting in its higher utilization efficiency. The results show that Vulcan carbon is effectively designed to array of graphene sheets, resulting in more triple-phase boundaries available for electrochemical reaction and better mass transport in the catalyst layer. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.