Novel method for synthesis of electrocatalyst via catalytic graphitization of ordered mesoporous carbon for PEMFC application

In this work, high-surface area graphitized ordered mesoporous carbon (M-mOMC, M = Fe, Co, Ni) materials were synthesized using M-SBA-15 template for PEM fuel cell electrocatalysts support. These materials were characterized by BET, XRD, TEM, TGA-DSC and Raman spectroscopy. Fuel cell polarization study indicated that of the three Pt/M-mOMCs, nickel modified mOMC's performance was superior over Fe and Co modified mOMCs and outperformed Pt/OMC. XRD and Raman Spectroscopy studies revealed that graphitization of the OMC using transition metals results in some defects in the ordered structure. The performance of these M-mOMCs as electrocatalyst support for PEM fuel cell application is reported in this paper.