Impact of pore size of ordered mesoporous carbon FDU-15-supported platinum catalysts on oxygen reduction reaction

To investigate the impact of pore size of ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) FDU-15-supported Platinum (Pt) catalysts on oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), OMC FDU-15 with various pore sizes ranging from 4.0 nm to 8.1 nm are synthesized through a soft-template method, and then FDU-15-supported Pt catalysts are prepared by chemical impregnation method. Characterizations show that increase in pore size enlarges the specific surface area and the pore volume of FDU-15, but decreases the electrical conductivity. Particle size of FDU-15-supported Pt catalyst is also influenced in a decreasing trend with the increase of pore size. Electrochemical measurement demonstrates that FDU-15-supported Pt catalyst with a pore size of 6.5 nm yields the highest electrocatalytic activity for ORR, which is further confirmed by single cell test on DMFC, as the catalyst for cathode. (C) 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.