Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity and Durability of Pt Catalysts Supported on Titanium Carbide

Catalysts

Morio Chiwata¹  Katsuyoshi Kakinuma²  Mitsuru Wakisaka²  Makoto Uchida²  Shigehito Deki²  Masahiro Watanabe²  Hiroyuki Uchida² 

[1] Special Doctoral Program for Green Energy Conversion Science and Technology, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, University of Yamanashi, 4 Takeda, Kofu 400-8510, Japan; E-Mail:;Fuel Cell Nanomaterials Center, University of Yamanashi, 4 Takeda, Kofu 400-8510, Japan; E-Mails:

关键词: titanium carbide;    polymer electrolyte fuel cell;    cathode catalyst;    oxygen reduction reaction;    corrosion-resistant catalyst support;   

DOI  :  10.3390/catal5020966

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

We have prepared Pt nanoparticles supported on titanium carbide (TiC) (Pt/TiC) as an alternative cathode catalyst with high durability at high potentials for polymer electrolyte fuel cells. The Pt/TiC catalysts with and without heat treatment were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Hemispherical Pt nanocrystals were found to be dispersed uniformly on the TiC support after heat treatment at 600 °C in 1% H₂/N₂ (Pt/TiC-600 °C). The electrochemical properties (cyclic voltammetry, electrochemically active area (ECA), and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity) of Pt/TiC-600 °C and a commercial Pt/carbon black (c-Pt/CB) were evaluated by the rotating disk electrode (RDE) technique in 0.1 M HClO₄ solution at 25 °C. It was found that the kinetically controlled mass activity for the ORR on Pt/TiC-600 °C at 0.85 V (507 A g⁻¹) was comparable to that of c-Pt/CB (527 A g⁻¹). Moreover, the durability of Pt/TiC-600 °C examined by a standard potential step protocol (E = 0.9 V↔1.3 V vs. RHE, holding 30 s at each E) was much higher than that for c-Pt/CB.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.