Phosphorus-Modified Palladium and Tungsten Carbide/Mesoporous Carbon Composite for Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells
Ganghong Bae,
Woo Jin Byun,
Jin Ho Lee,
Min Hee Lee,
Yeji Choi,
Jae Young Kim,
Duck Hyun Youn
Affiliations
Ganghong Bae
Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH), Pohang 37673, Republic of Korea
Woo Jin Byun
School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
Jin Ho Lee
School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
Min Hee Lee
School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
Yeji Choi
Department of Chemical Engineering, Department of Integrative Engineering for Hydrogen Safety, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea
Jae Young Kim
Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon 34114, Republic of Korea
Duck Hyun Youn
Department of Chemical Engineering, Department of Integrative Engineering for Hydrogen Safety, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea
A composite material of tungsten carbide and mesoporous carbon was synthesized by the sol-gel polycondensation of resorcinol and formaldehyde, using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as a surfactant and Ludox HS-40 as a porogen, and served as a support for Pd-based electrodes. Phosphorus-modified Pd particles were deposited onto the support using an NH3-mediated polyol reduction method facilitated by sodium hypophosphite. Remarkably small Pd nanoparticles with a diameter of ca. 4 nm were formed by the phosphorus modification. Owing to the high dispersion of Pd and its strong interaction with tungsten carbide, the Pd nanoparticles embedded in the tungsten carbide/mesoporous carbon composite exhibited a hydrogen oxidation activity approximately twice as high as that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst under the anode reaction conditions of proton exchange membrane fuel cells.
