Chen Qiao, Yu Chu-Yang, Zhai Yong-Chang, Watanabe Takashi, Kawasumi Masaya, Huda Miftakhul, Matsuo Yutaka
Department of Chemical Systems Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya, 464-8603, Japan.
Institute of Materials Innovation, Institutes of Innovation for Future Society, Nagoya University, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan.
Small Methods. 2025 Aug;9(8):e2500074. doi: 10.1002/smtd.202500074. Epub 2025 Apr 14.
Platinum (Pt)-based electrocatalysts are widely regarded as the preferred choice for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell (PEFC). However, their low stability remains a critical challenge. To overcome this problem, high-crystallinity and high-purity single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), fabricated by the enhanced direct injection pyrolysis synthesis (e-DIPS) method, are utilized as support with a nitrogen introducing treatment applied to produce nitrogen-containing SWCNT (N-SWCNT). Platinum electrocatalysts encapsulated by amorphous-carbon shell are synthesized on nitrogen-containing single-walled carbon nanotubes (Pt/N-SWCNT) using a facile and industrially favorable solution plasma (SP) method. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy observations indicate that Pt nanoparticles in Pt/N-SWCNT are encapsulated within nitrogen-containing carbon shells. As the cathodic catalyst of membrane electrode assembly (MEA) in a single cell, the Pt/N-SWCNT-MEA shows a decrease of only 20.8% in maximum power density after 16 000 cycles of the accelerated durability test (ADT). After the high-voltage acceleration (1.0-1.5 V), Pt/N-SWCNT-MEA exhibits a lower loss of 39.5%, compared to 48.3% for Pt/SWCNT-MEA and 93.2% for commercial Pt/C in maximum power density. These results indicate that nitrogen-containing carbon shells and SWCNTs as supports contribute to enhancing the stability and activity of the catalyst, thereby leading to the excellent performance of the PEFC.
基于铂（Pt）的电催化剂被广泛认为是聚合物电解质燃料电池（PEFC）中氧还原反应（ORR）的首选。然而，它们的低稳定性仍然是一个关键挑战。为了克服这个问题，通过增强直接注射热解合成（e-DIPS）方法制备的高结晶度和高纯度单壁碳纳米管（SWCNT）被用作载体，并进行氮引入处理以制备含氮SWCNT（N-SWCNT）。使用简便且有利于工业生产的溶液等离子体（SP）方法，在含氮单壁碳纳米管（Pt/N-SWCNT）上合成了被非晶碳壳包裹的铂电催化剂。高分辨率透射电子显微镜观察表明，Pt/N-SWCNT中的铂纳米颗粒被包裹在含氮碳壳内。作为单电池中膜电极组件（MEA）的阴极催化剂，在经过16000次加速耐久性测试（ADT）循环后，Pt/N-SWCNT-MEA的最大功率密度仅下降了20.8%。在高压加速（1.0 - 1.5V）后，Pt/N-SWCNT-MEA的最大功率密度损失较低，为39.5%，相比之下，Pt/SWCNT-MEA为48.3%，商业Pt/C为93.2%。这些结果表明，含氮碳壳和作为载体的SWCNT有助于提高催化剂的稳定性和活性，从而使PEFC具有优异的性能。
