Polyaniline Based Pt-Electrocatalyst for a Proton Exchanged Membrane Fuel Cell

Abstract

Calcination reduction reaction is used to prepare Pt/EB (emeraldine base)-XC72 (Vulcan carbon black) composites as the cathode material of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The EB-XC72 core-shell composite obtained from directly polymerizing aniline on XC72 particles is able to chelate and capture the Pt-ions before calcination. X-ray diffraction spectra demonstrate Pt particles are successfully obtained on the EB-XC72 when the calcined temperature is higher than 600 °C. Micrographs of TEM and SEM illustrate the affluent, Pt nanoparticles are uniformly distributed on EB-XC72 at 800 °C (Pt/EB-XC72/800). More Pt is deposited on Pt/EB-XC72 composite as temperatures are higher than 600 °C. The Pt/EB-XC72/800 catalyst demonstrates typical type of a cyclic voltammograms (C-V) curve of a Pt-catalyst with clear Pt–H oxidation and Pt–O reduction peaks. The highest number of transferred electrons during ORR approaches 3.88 for Pt/EB-XC72/800. The maximum power density of the single cell based on Pt/EB-XC72/800 reaches 550 mW cm−2.