Remarkably durable platinum cluster supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes with high performance in an anhydrous polymer electrolyte fuel cell

Abstract

Reducing platinum (Pt) usage in the polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) has become one of the main issues in the global commercialization of PEFCs. In this work, we describe a facile and scalable method to deposit Pt clusters (1.2 nm) on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) by the aid of NaOH in a reduction process. The electrocatalyst loses 50% of the initial electrochemical surface area (ECSA) after 200 000 potential cycles from 1.0 to 1.5 V vs. RHE, which is 20 times higher compared to commercial CB/Pt. The mass power density of the Pt cluster electrocatalyst measured under 120 °C without any humidification reaches 1320 mW mg_Pt⁻¹, which is 6.7 times higher compared to that of commercial CB/Pt. To the best of our knowledge, the mass power density of our electrocatalyst is one of the highest values measured in high-temperature PEFCs.