Highly Dispersed and Nano-sized Pt-based Electrocatalysts for Low-Temperature Fuel Cells

Abstract

Among metals, Pt is so far the best material to be used as anode and cathode in low-temperature fuel cells. However, Pt has the drawback of being expensive and easily CO-poisoned. Thus, to produce useful electrocatalysts, significant efforts have been made worldwide on developing Pt-based catalysts with low Pt contents as well as searching for alternative materials with high catalytic activity for anodic and cathodic reactions in low-temperature fuel cells. This article presents the development of highly dispersed and nano-sized Pt-based electrocatalysts synthesized by several new methods based on our experimental results. In the case of anode materials, our proposed new method consists of the synthesis of Pt-based nanoparticles in order to maximize their surface availability, combined with the use of secondary metals that promote the oxidations of methanol and CO. On the other hand, for the cathode materials, the use of the Pt catalysts mixed with metal oxides enhances their oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity. We anticipate that the highly dispersed Ptbased nanoparticles introduced in this article will improve the performance of anode and cathode for low-temperature fuel cells.