Nitrogen-Doped Hollow Carbon Spheres as a support for platinum based electrocatalysts
By Galeano, Carolina; Meier, Josef C.; Soorholtz, Mario; Bongard, Hans-Josef; Baldizzone, Claudio; Mayrhofer, Karl J.J. & Schueth, Ferdi
Published in ACS Catalysis
NULL
2014
Abstract
Platinum and platinum alloys supported on carbon materials are the state of the art electrocatalysts for the essential oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in low temperature fuel cells. The limited stability of such materials under the often detrimental operation conditions of fuel cells still remains a critical issue to improve. In this work, we explore the impact of nitrogen-doped carbon supports on the activity and stability of platinum-based fuel cell catalysts. We present a nitrogen-doped mesostructured carbon material, Nitrogen-doped Hollow Carbon Spheres (NHCS), as a support for platinum based electrocatalysts. A detailed study of the electrochemical activity and stability was carried out for two Pt@NHCS materials, i.e. as-made material (Pt@NHCS) with a Pt particle size smaller than 2 nm, and the corresponding material after thermal treatment at 850°C (Pt@NHCS∆T) with a Pt particle size ca. 2-3 nm. Activity in the ORR was studied by rotating disc electrode (RDE) thin-film measurements, and electrocatalyst stability was evaluated by accelerated aging tests under simulated start-stop conditions. The performance of the NHCS-based materials was compared to the two corresponding nitrogen-free materials as well as to a standard Pt/Vulcan catalyst. The underlying degradation mechanisms of Pt@NHCS materials were investigated via identical location electron microscopy. Our results conclusively show that nitrogen doping of the carbon supports can offer benefits for achieving high initial mass activities due to improved high platinum dispersion; however, it was not found to necessarily lead to an improvement of the catalyst stability.
Microsoft is Ending Support for Windows 7
Microsoft will discontinue support for Windows 7 on January 14, 2020 which means Gamry will also be discontinuing support for Windows 7. If you are upgrading to Windows 10, like many companies and institutions, you need to be running Version 7 of our s oftware . Please note that only USB and Ethernet-based instruments can run in Version 7. Eligible users can download the latest version of our software through our online Client Portal .
If you haven't already registered your instrument, you can do so through the Client Portal .
Please email Technical Support if you have any questions regarding this transition. Please be sure to include your instrument model and serial number when contacting us.