New Method to Synthesize Highly Active and Durable Chemically Ordered fct-PtCo Cathode Catalyst for PEMFCs

In the bottom-up synthesis strategy performed in this study, the Co-catalyzed pyrolysis of chelate-complex and activated carbon black at high temperatures triggers the graphitization reaction which introduces Co particles in the N-doped graphitic carbon matrix and immobilizes N-modified active sites for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on the carbon surface. In this study, the Co particles encapsulated within the N-doped graphitic carbon shell diffuse up to the Pt surface under the polymer protective layer and forms a chemically ordered face-centered tetragonal (fct) Pt–Co catalyst PtCo/CCCS catalyst as evidenced by structural and compositional studies. The fct-structured PtCo/CCCS at low-Pt loading (0.1 mgPt cm–2) shows 6% higher power density than that of the state-of-the-art commercial Pt/C catalyst. After the MEA durability test of 30 000 potential cycles, the performance loss of the catalyst is negligible. The electrochemical surface area loss is less than 40%, while that of commercial Pt/C is nea...