Nanoscale Catalysts of Oxygen Reduction Based on Bimetallic Clusters in Hydrogen–Air Fuel Cell Operating Conditions

Abstract

The electrochemical and power characteristics of the membrane electrode assemblies with PtCo/C, PtMn/C, PtZn/C, and PtNi/C cathode bimetallic catalysts, prepared from PtCo(CH₃СO₂)₄(СH₃СOОН), PtNi(CH₃СO₂)₄(СH₃СOОН), PtMn(CH₃СO₂)₄(H₂O), and PtZn(CH₃СO₂)₄(СH₃СOОН) bimetallic clusters, as a component of hydrogen–oxygen and hydrogen–air fuel cells, were studied. It is shown that various types of platinum-metal alloys with the ratio Pt : M = 1 : 1 (where M = Co, Ni, Mn, Zn) uniformly distributed over the surface of the support are formed after thermal degradation of the bimetallic clusters deposited on carbon black, and the catalyst grain size is 2–5 nm. The synthesized PtCo/C, PtMn/C, and PtZn/C catalysts are superior to a commercial platinum catalyst in terms of their high specific activity and, therefore, are promising for application in hydrogen–air fuel cells.