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On the Preparation and Testing of Fuel Cell Catalysts Using the Thin Film Rotating Disk Electrode Method
Published on: March 16, 2018
Oxide-Carbon Nanofibrous Composite Support for a Highly Active and Stable Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel-Cell
Yukwon Jeon1,2, Yunseong Ji1, Yong Il Cho1
1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering , Yonsei University , Yonsei-ro 50 , Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722 , Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
Well-designed electronic configurations and structural properties of electrocatalyst alter the activity, stability, and mass transport for enhanced catalytic reactions. We introduce a nanofibrous oxide-carbon composite by an in situ method of carbon nanofiber (CNF) growth by highly dispersed Ni nanoparticles that are exsoluted from a NiTiO3 surface. The nanofibrous feature has a 3D web structure with improved mass-transfer properties at the electrode. In addition, the design of the CNF/TiO2 support allows for complex properties for excellent stability and activity from the TiO2 oxide support and high electric conductivity through the connected CNF, respectively. Developed CNF/TiO2-Pt nanofibrous catalyst displays exemplary oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR) activity with significant improvement of the electrochemical surface area. Moreover, exceptional resistance to carbon corrosion and Pt dissolution is proven by durability-test protocols based on the Department of Energy. These results are well-reflected to the single-cell tests with even-better performance at the kinetic zone compared to the commercial Pt/C under different operation conditions. CNF/TiO2-Pt displays an enhanced active state due to the strong synergetic interactions, which decrease the Pt d-band vacancy by electron transfer from the oxide-carbon support. A distinct reaction mechanism is also proposed and eventually demonstrates a promising example of an ORR electrocatalyst design.
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