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Ordered Porous TiO₂@C Layer as an Electrocatalyst Support for Improved Stability in PEMFCs Liu, Gaoyang; Yang, Zhaoyi; Wang, Xindong; Fang, Baizeng

Abstract

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are the most promising clean energy source in the 21st century. In order to achieve a high power density, electrocatalytic performance, and electrochemical stability, an ordered array structure membrane electrode is highly desired. In this paper, a new porous Pt-TiO₂@C ordered integrated electrode was prepared and applied to the cathode of a PEMFC. The utilization of the TiO₂@C support can significantly decrease the loss of catalyst caused by the oxidation of the carbon from the conventional carbon layer due to the strong interaction of TiO₂ and C. Furthermore, the thin carbon layer coated on TiO₂ provides the rich active sites for the Pt growth, and the ordered support and catalyst structure reduces the mass transport resistance and improves the stability of the electrode. Due to its unique structural characteristics, the ordered porous Pt-TiO₂@C array structure shows an excellent catalytic activity and improved Pt utilization. In addition, the as-developed porous ordered structure exhibits superior stability after 3000 cycles of accelerated durability test, which reveals an electrochemical surface area decay of less than 30%, considerably lower than that (i.e., 80%) observed for the commercial Pt/C.

Item Metadata

Title
Ordered Porous TiO₂@C Layer as an Electrocatalyst Support for Improved Stability in PEMFCs
Creator
Liu, Gaoyang; Yang, Zhaoyi; Wang, Xindong; Fang, Baizeng
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2021-12-20
Description
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are the most promising clean energy source in the 21st century. In order to achieve a high power density, electrocatalytic performance, and electrochemical stability, an ordered array structure membrane electrode is highly desired. In this paper, a new porous Pt-TiO₂@C ordered integrated electrode was prepared and applied to the cathode of a PEMFC. The utilization of the TiO₂@C support can significantly decrease the loss of catalyst caused by the oxidation of the carbon from the conventional carbon layer due to the strong interaction of TiO₂ and C. Furthermore, the thin carbon layer coated on TiO₂ provides the rich active sites for the Pt growth, and the ordered support and catalyst structure reduces the mass transport resistance and improves the stability of the electrode. Due to its unique structural characteristics, the ordered porous Pt-TiO₂@C array structure shows an excellent catalytic activity and improved Pt utilization. In addition, the as-developed porous ordered structure exhibits superior stability after 3000 cycles of accelerated durability test, which reveals an electrochemical surface area decay of less than 30%, considerably lower than that (i.e., 80%) observed for the commercial Pt/C.
Subject
proton exchange membrane fuel cell; Pt-TiO2@C; ordered porous structure; electrochemical stability; electrocatalytic performance
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2022-01-24
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0406333
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/80708
Affiliation
Applied Science, Faculty of; Non UBC; Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of
Citation
Nanomaterials 11 (12): 3462 (2021)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/nano11123462
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Researcher
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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CC BY 4.0