Preparation and Characterization of Graphitic Particles as Alternative Support for Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalysts in Fuel Cells

Abstract

The suitability of a nanoscale graphite as polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) catalyst support were evaluated and compared with that of most popular commercial catalysts on Vulcan XC72 carbon black. It is observed that the distribution and structure of Pt nanopartcles for the synthesized catalyst and commercial catalysts is similar. The synthesized Pt catalysts show a better electrochemical surface area (ECSA). The accelerate degradation tests were performed by a glassy carbon rotating disk electrode, the results show that ECSA loss after 1500th cycling was 46.92% and 62.2% while mass activity loss was 59.2% and 97.9% for the synthesized catalyst and commercial catalyst, respectively. The temperature programmed oxidation results also show that the synthesized catalysts have better resistance against the corrosion. The obtained results show that the nanoscale graphite can be a promising alternative to the traditional used Vulcan XC72 carbon black as electrocatalyst support.