Performance- and Durability-Enhanced Carbon-Skeleton Nanofiber Electrode with Pt3Co/C for PEMFCs

To enhance the performance and durability of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), we looked beyond the polymer-skeleton electrospinning electrode and developed a novel carbon-skeleton nanofiber electrode (the C-spun electrode) by a facile heat-treatment process. After thermal annealing at 600 °C, part of the disordered Pt3Co nanoparticles converted into an ordered intermetallic phase, with an apparently improved oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity (E1/2 increased by 50 mV). Meanwhile, the polymers in the polymer-skeleton nanofibers were carbonized and transformed into carbon skeletons, which exhibited excellent corrosion resistance during extensive carbon corrosion testings (1.0–1.5 V, 0.5 V s–1, 1600 rpm, 30 000 cycles). In unit-cell tests, the C-spun electrode achieved an excellent performance of 8.207 W mgPt–1 (H2/air, 80 °C, 1 bar, 100% RH), which is higher than that of the previously reported electrodes with commercial Pt3Co/C. After 50 000 potential scanning cycles, a negligible performance loss was observed. The C-spun electrode provides a new direction for the next-generation electrodes of PEMFCs.