Study on durability of Pt supported on graphitized carbon under simulated start-up/shut-down conditions for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

The primary issue for the commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is the carbon corrosion of support under start-up/shut-down conditions. In this study, we employ the nanostructured graphitized carbon induced by heat-treatment. The degree of graphitization starts to increase between 900 and 1300 degrees C as evidenced by the change of specific surface area, interlayer spacing, and I-D/I-G value. Pt nanoparticles are deposited on fresh carbon black (Pt/CB) and carbon heat-treated at 1700 degrees C (Pt/HCB17) with similar particle size and distribution. Electrochemical characterization demonstrates that the Pt/HCB17 shows higher activity than the Pt/CB due to the inefficient microporous structure of amorphous carbon for the oxygen reduction reaction. An accelerating potential cycle between 1.0 and 1.5 V for the carbon corrosion is applied to examine durability at a single cell under the practical start-up/shutdown conditions. The Pt/HCB17 catalyst shows remarkable durability after 3000 potential cycles. The Pt/HCB17 catalyst exhibits a peak power density gain of 3%, while the Pt/CB catalyst shows 65% loss of the initial peak power density. As well, electrochemical surface area and mass activity of Pt/HCB17 catalyst are even more stable than those of the Pt/CB catalyst. Consequently, the high degree of graphitization is essential for the durability of fuel cells in practical start-up/shut-down conditions due to enhancing the strong interaction of Pt and pi-bonds in graphitized carbon. (C) 2017 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.