Nitrogen-Doped Activated Graphene Supported Platinum Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction in PEM Fuel Cells

Abstract

Highly active and durable platinum catalyst was successfully synthesized employing nitrogen-doped activated graphene as a catalyst support material. The physical characterization using XRD and TEM indicates the presence of nitrogen-doping on graphene leads to uniform distribution of Pt nanoparticles and effective formation of active sites exposed for reaction. The electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction of Pt/N-AG catalyst was confirmed by half-cell measurement, Accelerated durability test (ADT) was also conducted to investigate the durability of the catalyst by running the half-cell test for 1000 cycles in N2 saturated electrolyte. The catalyst demonstrates superior electrocatalyst activity and durability over Pt/XC72 catalyst for ORR under the studied conditions, rendering graphene as an ideal replacement to traditional nanostructured carbon support materials.