Ultrafast carbothermal shock strategy enabled highly graphitic porous carbon supports for fuel cells

The electronic conductivity and durability of porous carbon supports can be improved by increasing the degree of graphitization in the material; however, the preparation of highly graphitic porous carbon using conventional furnaces remains a significant challenge. Herein, we demonstrate a universal and highly efficient carbothermal shock strategy that significantly improves the degree of graphitization of porous carbon supports, including bowl-like carbon, hollow carbon spheres, ZIF8-derived carbon, BP2000, and Ketjen EC 300J. Taking bowl-like carbon as an example, we illustrate the synthesis of a graphitized bowl-like carbon (G-BC-S) support and evaluate the performance of PtCo/G-BC-S in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in rotating disk electrodes (RDE) and H2/air PEM single cells. PtCo/G-BC-S exhibits faster ORR kinetics than PtCo/BC and Pt/C, with little loss of activity (25%) and only 13 mV of E1/2 decay after 20000 cycles accelerated stress testing under 1.0–1.5 V vs. a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). The significantly enhanced performance of the PtCo/G-BC-S catalyst arises from the high activity and chemical/structural stability of the PtCo intermetallic nanoparticles and from the high degree of graphitization and well-defined porous structure of the bowl-like carbon support, which confers excellent electrical conductivity and oxygen transport properties. This study provides a reliable and universal strategy for the development of high-performance porous carbon supports for practical applications in fuel cells.