Enhanced oxygen reduction reaction of Pt deposited Fe/N-doped bimodal porous carbon nanostructure catalysts

Abstract

For commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), the loading amount of Pt-based cathode catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) needs be significantly reduced. In this study, we propose Pt catalysts supported by an iron/nitrogen-doped porous carbon (FeNC) nanostructure having a catalytic activity for ORR in order to significantly reduce the utilization of Pt. The FeNC nanostructure was prepared using a template method with 50 and 500 nm SiO2 beads and phthalocyanine as a dopant and carbon source. The nanosized Pt catalysts with different loading weights (5, 10, 20, 30 wt%) were uniformly deposited on the FeNC with a bimodal porous crystalline doped carbon nanostructure using an electron beam radiation method. In particular, the cathode catalyst having 5 wt% Pt on FeNC (Pt5/FeNC) exhibited enhanced ORR mass activities of 2.19 and 2.58 A mgPt−1 at 0.9 V measured by electrochemical half cells in acidic and alkaline media, respectively, compared to a commercial Pt(20 wt%)/C (Pt20/C). Furthermore, Pt5/FeNC showed a higher mass activity of 18.76 A mgPt−1 at 0.6 V as a unit cell performance than that of the commercial catalyst. The improved ORR activity of Pt/FeNC might be synergistically attributed to the homogeneous dispersion of Pt nanoparticles on the bimodal porous doped carbon nanostructure, the interaction (electronic effect) between the metallic catalyst and the doped support, and the dual catalytic effect of both Pt and the doped carbon nanostructure.