Influence of a carbon support on the catalytic activity and durability of the Pt-based electrocatalysts

Abstract

There are numerous carbon materials that are deemed promising for use as supports in electrocatalysts for PEMFCs. We have carried out a comparative analysis of compositional, morphological and electrochemical characteristics of the platinum–carbon catalysts synthesized by a single method on various carbon supports (Vulcan XC-72, Ketjenblack EC-300 J, Ketjenblack EC-600JD and N-doped Ketjenblack EC-600JD) and the commercial electrocatalyst.The Pt/C materials obtained on highly dispersed supports (from 800 m2 g−1) exhibit almost 1.5times greater ORR activity compared to those with a specific surface area of less than 250 m2 g−1. Doping of a highly dispersed support with nitrogen leads to a 30 % increase in the durability of the catalysts based thereon. The resulting Pt/C on the N-doped support exhibits an ESA of more than 110 m2 g−1 and an ORR mass activity of about 430Ag-1Pt, which correspond to the DOE targets and are 1.6and 1.7times higher than those of the commercial analog.