Phthalocyanine-Derived Platform toward Integrated Ultralow-Platinum Fuel Cell Catalysts

Developing cost-effective proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is imperative yet challenging with respect to the performance of Pt-based membrane electrode assembly (MEA) when using an ultralow Pt loading. Here, we report a hybrid fuel cell catalyst comprising a Pt-skin Pt₃Mn intermetallic on a manganese-nitrogen-carbon (Mn-N-C) support. The successful synthesis of this hybrid catalyst relies on the rational use of metal phthalocyanine molecules that serve as a chemical source for the synthesis of Pt₃Mn and the construction of Mn-N-C. Pt₃Mn/Mn-N-C demonstrates high mass activity (1.22 A mg_Pt^-1) with an ultralow Pt loading of 0.025 mg_Pt cm^-2 and retains 76.3% of its mass activity after 30000-cycle accelerated stress tests (ASTs). Mechanistic investigations and theoretical calculations imply that the synergistic contribution of Mn-N-C networks and structurally stable Pt-skin Pt₃Mn hybrid catalysts with enhanced Mn specific anchoring is responsible for achieving high activity and durability in fuel cells.