(702b) Stability and ORR Activity of Nitrogen Functionalized Ordered Mesoporous Carbon Supports

The most popular catalyst for low temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) is platinum (Pt) nanoparticles supported on carbon [1]. One of the major issues concerning Pt nanoparticles is the very slow kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) which limits overall performance of PEMFC [2]. Moreover, catalytic activity and thereby, fuel cell performance is lost overtime due to loss of electrochemically active surface area (EASA) at the cathode caused by particle agglomeration, dissolution and redeposition, and active site contamination [3, 4].

One of the ways to improve stability and performance of the Pt electrocatalyst is to introduce surface functional groups into the carbon support [3]. We introduce nitrogen functionalized ordered mesoporous carbon as support for Pt electrocatalyst. The nitrogen functionalized ordered mesoporous carbon (NOMC) support has narrow pore size distribution and allows easy tunability of its pore size [5]. Here we characterize the cycleability, Pt particle distribution, and ORR activity of Pt deposited NOMC, which shows promise as next generation ORR catalyst.

References

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