Enhancing oxygen reduction reaction of Pt–Co/C nanocatalysts via synergetic effect between Pt and Co prepared by one‐pot synthesis
Yunfeng Wu, Jiwei Ma, Yunhui Huang
Abstract
Abstract Designing highly active and durable electrocatalysts towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) plays a paramount importance for proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Pt‐based binary alloys Pt‐M (M = 3d‐transition metals) possessing excellent electronic and geometric properties have received increasing interests as highly active electrocatalysts. Herein, we report a series of Pt x Co/C ( x = 1, 2, 3) catalysts by a facile one‐pot soft‐chemistry method. In the acidic conditions, the mass activities of PtCo/C, Pt 2 Co/C and Pt 3 Co/C are 0.526, 0.462 and 0.441 A·mg Pt −1 , which are 2.60, 2.31 and 2.22 times higher than that of Pt/C (0.200 A·mg Pt −1 ), respectively. The specific activities of PtCo/C, Pt 2 Co/C and Pt 3 Co/C are 706.59, 679.41 and 801.83 μA·cm −2 , which are accordingly 2.89, 2.76 and 3.28 times higher than that of Pt/C (244.75 μA·cm −2 ). Notably, Pt 3 Co/C shows a remarkable durability. After 5000 cycles of the accelerated durability testing, the mass activity and specific activity of Pt 3 Co/C catalyst are 2.47 and 3.80 times higher than that of the commercial Pt/C, respectively. The improved ORR activity and durability can be ascribed to the synergistic interaction between Pt and Co.