Electrochimica Acta, Vol.56, No.5, 2154-2159, 2011
Enhanced life of proton exchange membrane fuel cell catalysts using perfluorosulfonic acid stabilized carbon support
We report a new and simple solution to increase life of Pt/C catalysts using the proton-conducting polymer (perfluorosulfonic acid, PFSA) stabilized carbon support (denoted these catalysts as Pt/NFC catalysts) as compared to conventional Pt/C catalysts commonly used in PEM fuel cells. A high catalytic activity of the catalyst is observed by both CV (cyclic voltammetry) and ORR (oxygen reduction reaction) measurements. Especially, our own catalysts have a 60% better life as compared to Pt/C under electrochemically accelerated durability test conditions. The loss rate of electrochemical active area (ECA) for Pt/NFC catalysts is only 0.007 m(2) g(-1) cycle(-1), compared to a value of 0.011 m(2) g(-1) cycle(-1) for Pt/C. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.