Microwave synthesis of carbon-supported platinum for oxygen reduction electrocatalysis

doi:10.19799/j.cnki.2095-4239.2022.0473

Abstract

Abstract:

Since the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells is sluggish, developing high-activity and low-cost ORR electrocatalysts are essential for fuel cell evolution. Here, platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) are synthesized by reducing chloroplatinic acid in a solution of sodium hydroxide/ethylene glycol by microwave synthesis and are subsequently mixed with Vulcan XC-72R carbon black to prepare a highly dispersible carbon-supported platinum (Pt/C) catalyst. The transmission electron microscopy results propose that Pt NPs are evenly distributed on the carbon black's surface, with an average particle size of approximately 2.8 nm, which is slightly smaller than that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst (～3 nm). Further, the effects of microwave power, dispersionsolvent, and the presence or absence of HCl when supporting carbon on the produced catalysts' dispersion and oxygen reduction activities are investigated. Electrochemical tests show that the optimum microwave Pt/C catalyst has superior ORR catalytic activity than commercial Pt/C catalysts. The half-wave potential of the microwave Pt/C catalyst is 9 mV higher than that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst in a 0.1 mol/L HClO₄ electrolyte. Additionally, the mass and specific activities of microwave Pt/C catalyst are 0.109 A/mg and 0.127 mA/cm² at 0.9 V (vs. RHE), which are higher than those of the commercial Pt/C catalyst (0.093 A/mg^{and 0.118 mA/cm²), respectively. Moreover, microwave Pt/C catalyst has better electrochemical stability than that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst. These should be mainly attributed to the smaller size of Pt NPs uniformly dispersed on the carbon surface. The increased Pt surface area improves ORR activity, and the sturdy insertion of Pt NPs into the pore structure in the carbon support surface enhances the stability. Here, the synthesis route of the Pt/C catalyst by the microwave method is systematically studied and proven suitable for large-scale production.}

Key words: microwave synthesis, Pt/C catalyst, oxygen reduction reaction

CLC Number:

O 646

Jialin CAI, Yizhe CHEN, Joey Chung‐Yen JUNG, Jiujun ZHANG, Shiming ZHANG. Microwave synthesis of carbon-supported platinum for oxygen reduction electrocatalysis[J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2022, 11(12): 3800-3807.

Figures/Tables 5

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