Enhancing Pt/C Catalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction with Protic Ionic Liquids: The Effect of Anion Structure

Protic ionic liquids (ILs) have been recently studied as a potential approach to enhance oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of carbon supported platinum catalysts (Pt/C) for application in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. The high oxygen solubility in the ILs was suggested as one of the main reasons for the accelerated reaction rates. Because the nature of the anion of the IL has been associated with increased oxygen solubility, in this work we survey a number of ionic liquids with various anions to study this effect. While the search for direct correlation between the ORR activities and the oxygen solubilities does not produce any conclusive results, by contrast, the specific activity showed dependence on the availability of oxygenated species free Pt sites. This finding indicates that the inhibition of Pt oxidation and less adsorption of non-reactive species may also play an important role in the enhanced ORR activity. Moreover, the degree of IL coverage on the Pt surface was estimated using (bi) sulfate ions as an indicator. The surface coverage not only affected the ORR activity, but also the Pt dissolution process. This suggests that an optimal balance between activity and stability can be achieved on a partially covered Pt surface. (c) The Author(s) 2017. Published by ECS. All rights reserved.