Effect of mesoporous carbon on oxygen reduction reaction activity as cathode catalyst support for proton exchange membrane fuel cell

In this paper, a new carbon support with a large number of mesoporous-structures is selected to prepare Pt/C catalysts. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) results show that the Pt/3# catalyst presents a sponge-like morphology, Pt particles are not only evenly distributed on the surface of carbon support, but also the smaller Pt particles are deposited in the mesoporous inside the support. The average diameter of Pt particles is only 2.8 nm. The membrane electrode assembly (MEA) based on Pt/3# catalyst also shows excellent performance. In conclusion, the 3# support is an idea carbon support for PEMFC, which helps to improve the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of the catalyst. Based on the internal-Pt structure of the support mesoporous, the efficient three-phase boundaries (TPBs) are construct to avoid the poisoning effect of ionomer on the nano-metal particles, reduce the activation impedance and oxygen mass transfer impedance, and improve the reaction efficiency. (C) 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A new carbon support with abundant mesoporous structures was used to prepare Pt/C catalysts, which exhibited excellent performance. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that Pt particles were evenly distributed on the surface of the carbon support and smaller Pt particles were deposited inside the mesopores. The resulting catalyst showed promising performance in the membrane electrode assembly.