Engineered catalyst layer design with graphene-carbon black hybrid supports for enhanced platinum utilization in {PEM} fuel cell

By ?anl?, Lale I??kel; Bayram, Vildan; Ghobadi, Sajjad; D
Published in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy NULL 2017

Abstract

Abstract In this study, a new approach was applied to prepare platinum/reduced graphene oxide/carbon black (Pt/rGO/CB) hybrid electrocatalysts. Unlike literature firstly {GO} and {CB} in varying ratios are homogeneously mixed with a high shear mixer and then Pt was impregnated onto the hybrid support structure according to the polyol method. According to our approach {CB} was used as a spacer and intercalating agent in both Pt impregnation and electrode preparation to avoid restacking and increase the Pt utilization. Thus rGO/CB based hybrid support can ease the diffusion while it is promoting to the use of high electrical connectivity and surface area of graphene. The maximum power density of 645 mW cm?2 with Pt utilization efficiency of 2.58 kW/gPt was achieved with the hybrid containing the smallest amount of CB. It seems that this small amount of {CB} effectively modifies the electrode structure. The enhanced fuel cell performance can be attributed to synergistic effects from graphene and {CB} providing better mass transport and Pt utilization in the catalyst layer.

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