Rational Design of a High-Durability Pt-Based ORR Catalyst Supported on Mn/N Codoped Carbon Sheets for PEMFCs

The high cost and poor durability of the catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) remain two stumbling blocks to the broad commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Herein, novel two-dimensional (2D)-structured carbon sheets with high specific surface areas and Mn–Nx sites are rationally designed and synthesized with a facile method. Also, after being coupled with the highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles, the carbon composite with dual ORR active sites [Pt/(Mn–N)@C] successfully outperforms the commercialized Pt/C in both mass activity (0.50 A mgPt–1) and specific activity (0.54 mA cmPt–1). Meanwhile, it maintains outstanding durability after 30,000 cycles of an accelerated durability test with a performance loss of only 14.1 %. Furthermore, the excellent performance (1.18 W cm–2) revealed in the single-cell configuration demonstrates the promising application of Pt/(Mn–N)@C in PEMFCs.