Platinum is the basic metal that is used for anode and cathode electrodes of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) because of its high catalytic activity for both oxidation and reduction reactions. Catalytic activity of the fuel cell catalysts depends on several parameters such as catalyst preparation technique, structure of the catalyst support, precursor properties, and accessibility of the active metal on the support.
In this study, it is aimed to synthesize and characterize carbon support with hollow core mesoporous shell (HCMS) for PEMFC catalyst. A novel hollow core mesoporous shell carbon catalyst support is being synthesized with the use of solid core mesoporous shell (SCMS) silica as template. BET surface area for SCMS silica and HCMS carbon were found as 444 m²/g and 1290 m²/g respectively. Pore size distribution data calculated from the adsorption branches of nitrogen isotherms by the BJH method showed that the pores are uniform with narrow pore size distribution centered at 3.0 nm. HCMS carbon supports exhibit high surface area with a macroporous/mesoporous structure indicating that they are promising supports for electrode catalysts in PEMFC.
Pt/HCMS carbon nanocomposite catalysts prepared by microwave synthesis are tested in a single PEMFC and performance results are compared with the Pt nanoparticles incorporated catalysts prepared by using different carbon supports such as Vulcan XC-72 and Black Pearl 2000 (BP-2000) exhibiting BET surface area of 236 m²/g and 1500 m²/g respectively. Pt/HCMS carbon nanocomposite catalytic materials are characterized by XRD, BET, SEM, and TEM analysis.
Keywords: HCMS, carbon support