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Optimizing catalyst loading in non-noble metal electrocatalyst layer to improve oxygen reduction reaction activity

From National Research Council Canada

DOIResolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2011.02.017
AuthorSearch for: 1; Search for: 1ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1823-2948; Search for: 1
Affiliation
  1. National Research Council of Canada. NRC Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation
FormatText, Article
SubjectCatalyst layers; Catalyst loadings; Electrocatalyst layers; Electrode catalysts; Electrode surfaces; Electron transfer; Electron transfer pathways; Heat treatment process; Noble metals; Non-noble metal catalysts; Oxygen reduction reaction; Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR); PEM fuel cell; Rotating disk electrodes; Rotating ring-disk electrode techniques; Saturation point; Electrocatalysts; Electrolytic reduction; Electron transitions; Loading; Metals; Optimization; Oxygen; Precious metals; Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC); Rotating disks; Rotation; Catalyst activity
Abstract
Carbon-supported non-noble metal catalysts with Fe as the metal and tripyridyl triazine (TPTZ) as the ligand (Fe-TPTZ/C), synthesized through a heat treatment process at 900 °C, were employed to coat an electrode surface and form catalyst layers in order to optimize their catalyzed ORR activity. The formed catalyst layers containing different catalyst loads of 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600 μg•cm-2 were tested using both rotating disk electrode and rotating ring disk electrode techniques. It was found that as the electrode catalyst loading increased, the ORR activity rose monotonically in the loading range of 100 to 500 μg•cm-2, then reached a saturation point with higher catalyst loading, indicating that raising the electrode catalyst loading could effectively improve the catalyst's ORR activity. In addition, the overall ORR electron transfer numbers for Fe-N x/C catalysts were found to be in the range of 3.7-3.9 at different loadings, suggesting that the ORR process was mainly dominated by a four-electron transfer pathway to produce water. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.
Publication date
PublisherElsevier
In
  • Electrochemistry Communications 13, no. 5 (May 2011): 447–449.
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedYes
NPARC number21271416
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Record identifier906e41ab-1be3-4215-a57c-a1e49918d914
Record created2014-03-24
Record modified2021-08-13
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