Triton X-100-mediated one-pot solution phase synthesis of AuPtCo/C nanoparticles with enhanced oxygen reduction performance in fuel cells
摘要
Au-doped PtCo/C (AuPtCo/C) as an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst is synthesized using a facile single-step solution phase synthesis method with Triton X-100 as a mediator guiding the shape and size of the metal nanoparticles. The spherical-shaped nanoparticles of 2–4 nm were uniformly dispersed over the porous carbon support accounting for an electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) of 52 m2/gPt. It was observed that at 0.9 V, the mass activity (Im) of AuPtCo/C catalyst is 0.57 A/mgPt which is 4 times higher in relation to commercial Pt/C catalyst. While evaluating in real-time PEMFC configuration under acidic environment, this catalyst delivers a peak power density of 1.33 W/cm2 at a current density of 3.43 A/cm2 with H2/O2 feeds under ambient pressure, thus emerging as a promising electrocatalyst for fuel cell applications.