PtFe alloy catalyst supported on porous carbon nanofiber with high activity and durability for oxygen reduction reaction

To reduce the high cost of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst and improve the performance of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), low-Pt or non-Pt catalysts have been studied in recent years. In this paper, PtFe alloy nanoparticles are loaded on porous carbon nanofiber (PCNF) via one-step modified glycol reduction method by adjusting solution pH. On the surface of PCNF, PtFe alloy nanoparticle can be uniformly dispersed with a narrow particle size distribution. The catalyst Pt4.8Fe/PCNF prepared in pH = 7 solution with PCNF as carbon support exhibits better ORR performance, which shows even 18 mV higher onset potential than that of commercial catalyst Pt/C (Johnson Matthey, JM20). Moreover, comparable durability is also obtained through accelerated durability test (ADT) test after 2000 cycles. The excellent performance of Pt4.8Fe/PCNF catalyst may attribute to the structural and electronic effects of transition metal in the PtFe alloy. The rough surface and porous structure of PCNF is also supposed to be beneficial for performance improvement.