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Improved Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalyzed by Pt/Clay/Nafion Nanocomposite for PEM Fuel Cells
journal contribution
posted on 2012-07-25, 00:00 authored by B. Narayanamoorthy, K. K. R. Datta, M. Eswaramoorthy, S. BalajiA novel Pt nanoparticle (Pt NP) embedded aminoclay/Nafion
(Pt/AC/N)
nanocomposite catalyst film was prepared for oxygen reduction reaction
by sol–gel method. The prepared nanocomposite films were surface
characterized using XRD and TEM and thermal stability was studied
by TGA. The prepared film has firmly bound Pt NP and could exhibit
an improved electro-reduction activity compared to vulcan carbon/Nafion
supported Pt NP (Pt/VC/N). Moreover, the Pt/AC/N film possessed good
stability in the acidic environment. The limiting current density
of the Pt/AC/N film with 35.4 μg/cm2 of Pt loading
was found to be 4.2 mA/cm2, which is 30% higher than that
of the Pt/VC/N. The maximum H2O2 intermediate
formation was found to be ∼1.6% and the reaction found to follow
a four electron transfer mechanism. Accelerated durability test for
2000 potential cycles showed that ca. 78% of initial limiting current
was retained. The results are encouraging for possible use of the
Pt/AC/N as the free-standing electrocatalyst layer for polymer electrolyte
membrane fuel cells.