Enhanced oxygen reduction activity with rare earth metal alloy catalysts in proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Alloying platinum is an approach to increase the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity and at the same time reduce the amount of precious platinum catalyst in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). In this work the cathode activity of thin films of rare earth metals (REM) alloys, Pt3Y, Pt5Gd and Pt5Tb, produced by sputter deposition onto gas diffusion layers, are evaluated in a fuel cell by means of polarization curves in O2/H2, and cyclic- and CO-stripping voltammetry in N2/5% H2. Prior to evaluation, the model electrodes were acid-treated to obtain a Pt skin covering the PtREM alloy bulk, as was revealed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The core shell alloys of Pt3Y and Pt5Gd catalysts show a specific activity enhancement at 0.9 V of 2.5 times compared to pure Pt. The slightly lower enhancement factor of 2.0 for Pt5Tb is concluded to be due to leaching of the REM, that resulted in a thicker, and subsequently less strained, Pt overlayer. The high activity, combined with the minor changes in surface composition, achieved in the fuel cell environment shows that PtREM core shell catalysts are promising for the cathode reaction in PEMFC.