Development of graphene supported platinum nanoparticles for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells: Effect of support type and impregnation

By ?anl?, Lale I??kel; Bayram, Vildan; Yarar, Beg
Published in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy NULL 2016

Abstract

Abstract There are various studies for the development of graphene supported platinum (Pt/graphene) as the electrocatalyst for polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells, however, a few of them confirmed the fuel cell performance. We demonstrate here a comprehensive overview on synthesis, characterization and fuel cell performance of Pt/graphene electrocatalysts. In our study, Pt nanoparticles were anchored onto graphene oxide (GO), graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) and thermally reduced {GO} (TRGO) by several impregnation-reduction methods including ethylene glycol reflux, sodium borohydride reduction and ascorbic acid reduction. The most promising results in terms of Pt dispersion, particle size, and electrocatalytic activity were obtained with ethylene glycol reflux and {GO} as the support material. The maximum power density of 320 mW cm?2 (40% higher than that of Pt/Vulcan XC-72) was achieved for Pt/r-GO with a Pt loading of 0.25 mg cm?2. Moreover, {PEM} fuel cell performance of Pt/GNP is presented for the first time in literature.

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