Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology (Sep 2020)

One-step synthesis of carbon-supported electrocatalysts

  • Sebastian Tigges,
  • Nicolas Wöhrl,
  • Ivan Radev,
  • Ulrich Hagemann,
  • Markus Heidelmann,
  • Thai Binh Nguyen,
  • Stanislav Gorelkov,
  • Stephan Schulz,
  • Axel Lorke

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.11.126
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1419 – 1431

Abstract

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Cost-efficiency, durability, and reliability of catalysts, as well as their operational lifetime, are the main challenges in chemical energy conversion. Here, we present a novel, one-step approach for the synthesis of Pt/C hybrid material by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PE-CVD). The platinum loading, degree of oxidation, and the very narrow particle size distribution are precisely adjusted in the Pt/C hybrid material due to the simultaneous deposition of platinum and carbon during the process. The as-synthesized Pt/C hybrid materials are promising electrocatalysts for use in fuel cell applications as they show significantly improved electrochemical long-term stability compared to the industrial standard HiSPEC 4000. The PE-CVD process is furthermore expected to be extendable to the general deposition of metal-containing carbon materials from other commercially available metal acetylacetonate precursors.

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