Pt Performance in Fuel Cells was Enhanced by Plasma Modification of Carbon Support

The Pt/CNF catalyst has been developed via full plasma technology by Dr. Jue Hu, and Chengxu Zhang in Plasma Application Division, ASIPP. It can possess the integrated structure, ultralow Pt loading, and remarkable high Pt utilization, electrocatalystic activity and poisoning tolerance.

With high activities for anodic electro-oxidation reaction and cathodic electro-reduction reactions, Pt has been the general choice of catalyst for fuel cells. However, the insufficient durability and catalytic activity in low loading of Pt remain major obstacles to the widespread commercialization of the fuel cell technology.

To overcome these problems, scientists in ASIPP have been focusing on the synthesis of Pt/carbon catalysts with integrated structure, high surface area, good electric conductivity and ordered morphology to build efficient TPB structure. The vertically aligned carbon nanofiber (CNF) forest was directly grown on porous gas diffusion layer of electrode, which made sure a fast electron and mass transport. The ordered structure and high surface area of CNFs ensured a large region for Pt nanoparticles deposition and electrochemical reaction.

To improve the durability of catalyst, H2O plasma modification as a facial and facile approach was adopted to functionalize the carbon support with high content of hydroxyl oxygen groups. H2O plasma modified Pt/CNF electrode exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity and poisoning tolerance. These properties are crucial for fuel cell applications.

This full plasma approach for integrated catalyst synthesis should not be merely regarded as a catalyst preparation method, but represents a conceptual and methodological improvement in designing fuel cells.

This research is financially supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of Anhui province (No. 1308085QA09), and National Nature Science Foundation of China (Nos: 21203204, 11205202 and 11175214).

The related works are published in Appl. Phys. Lett., 2014, 104: 151502; J. Phys. Chem. C, 2013, 117:12902; Carbon, 2012, 50: 3731; Electrochim. Acta, 2011, 56: 6033 (HU Jue reports)

Article links:

http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/apl/104/15/10.1063/1.4871505

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jp403562h?journalCode=jpccck&quickLinkVolume=117&quickLinkPage=12902&selectedTab=citation&volume=117

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0008622312003089

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013468611006578