High performance platinum single atom electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction
Jing Liu, Menggai Jiao, Lanlu Lu, Heather M. Barkholtz, Yuping Li, Ying Wang, Luhua Jiang, Zhijian Wu, Di‐Jia Liu, Lin Zhuang, Chao Ma, Jie Zeng, Bingsen Zhang, Dangsheng Su, Ping Song, Wei Xing, Weilin Xu, Ying Wang, Zheng Jiang, Gongquan Sun
Abstract
Abstract For the large-scale sustainable implementation of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells in vehicles, high-performance electrocatalysts with low platinum consumption are desirable for use as cathode material during the oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells. Here we report a carbon black-supported cost-effective, efficient and durable platinum single-atom electrocatalyst with carbon monoxide/methanol tolerance for the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction. The acidic single-cell with such a catalyst as cathode delivers high performance, with power density up to 680 mW cm −2 at 80 °C with a low platinum loading of 0.09 mg Pt cm −2 , corresponding to a platinum utilization of 0.13 g Pt kW −1 in the fuel cell. Good fuel cell durability is also observed. Theoretical calculations reveal that the main effective sites on such platinum single-atom electrocatalysts are single-pyridinic-nitrogen-atom-anchored single-platinum-atom centres, which are tolerant to carbon monoxide/methanol, but highly active for the oxygen reduction reaction.