Pt nanowire growth induced by Pt nanoparticles in application of the cathodes for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs)

Sui, Sheng; Wei, Zhaoxu; Su, Kaihua; He, An; Wang, Xiaoying; Su, Yuehong; Hou, Xianghui; Raffet, Saffa; Du, Shangfeng

doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.09.009

Pt nanowire growth induced by Pt nanoparticles in application of the cathodes for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs)

Sui, Sheng; Wei, Zhaoxu; Su, Kaihua; He, An; Wang, Xiaoying; Su, Yuehong; Hou, Xianghui; Raffet, Saffa; Du, Shangfeng

Authors

Sheng Sui

Zhaoxu Wei

Kaihua Su

An He

Xiaoying Wang

YUEHONG SU yuehong.su@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Thermal Science and Building Technology

Xianghui Hou

Saffa Raffet

Shangfeng Du

Abstract

Improving cathode performance at a lower Pt loading is critical in commercial PEMFC applications. A novel Pt nanowire (Pt-NW) cathode was developed by in-situ growth of Pt nanowires in carbon matrix consisting Pt nanoparticles (Pt-NPs). Characterization of TEM and XRD shows that the pre-existing Pt-NPs from Pt/C affect Pt-NW morphology and crystallinity and Pt profile crossing the matrix thickness. The cathode with Pt-NP loading of 0.005 mgPt-NP cm?2 and total cathode Pt loading of 0.205 mgPt cm?2 has the specific current density of 89.56 A gPt?1 at 0.9 V, which is about 110% higher than that of 42.58 A gPt?1 of the commercial gas diffusion layer (GDE) with Pt loading of 0.40 mg cm?2. When cell voltage is below 0.48 V, the Pt-NW cathode has better performance than the commercial GDE. It is believed that the excellent performance of the Pt-NW cathode is attributed to Pt-NP induction, therefore producing unique Pt-NW structure and efficient Pt utilization. A Pt-NW growth mechanism was proposed that Pt precursor diffuses into the matrix consisting of pre-existent Pt-NPs by concentration driving, and Pt-NPs provide priority sites for platinum depositing at early stage and facilitate Pt-NW growth.

Citation

Sui, S., Wei, Z., Su, K., He, A., Wang, X., Su, Y., …Du, S. (2018). Pt nanowire growth induced by Pt nanoparticles in application of the cathodes for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs). International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 43(43), 20041-20049. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.09.009

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Sep 3, 2018
Online Publication Date	Sep 28, 2018
Publication Date	Oct 25, 2018
Deposit Date	Oct 29, 2018
Publicly Available Date	Sep 29, 2019
Journal	International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Print ISSN	0360-3199
Publisher	Elsevier
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	43
Issue	43
Pages	20041-20049
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.09.009
Keywords	Fuel Technology; Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment; Energy Engineering and Power Technology; Condensed Matter Physics
Public URL	https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1203326
Publisher URL	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319918328234
Additional Information	This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Pt nanowire growth induced by Pt nanoparticles in application of the cathodes for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs); Journal Title: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.09.009; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.