Electrodeposited Pt electrocatalysts on carbon substrates for low-temperature hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell applications

RAMOS SILVINA GABRIELA; ANDREASEN GUSTAVO; TRIACA WALTER

Madrid

Simposio; International Symposium on Catalysis for Clean Energy and Sustainable Chemistry (CCESC 2016); 2016

CCESC 2016

Dispersed noble metal electrocatalysts on high surface area conductive supports are extensively used in high-efficiency electrochemical energy converters. Platinum (Pt) is an effective electrocatalyst for electrodic reactions involved in low-temperature hydrogen/oxygen proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems, particularly the oxygen electroreduction reaction. This reaction represents one of the main limitations in hydrogen/oxygen fuel cells operating at low temperatures, due to its slow electrode kinetics. To ensure maximum utilization, Pt electrocatalysts are dispersed as nanoparticles on high surface area conductive carbon supports. The morphology and crystalline orientation of the dispersed metal are very important factors to be considered for understanding the effect of the electrocatalyst surface structure on the kinetics of electrocatalytic reactions. For this reason, the rational design and development of efficient Pt electrocatalyts have been prioritised in the last few years. In a previous work, it has been demostrated that the molecular oxygen electroreduction reaction in acid media becomes strongly dependent on Pt surface morphology in the high overpotential range, being favoured on (111)-type facetted Pt nanoparticles. In this work, the preparation and characterization of high surface area carbon-supported facetted Pt electrocatalysts with a defined and well characterised morphology for using in PEM fuel cells is presented.