A phenyl-sulfonic acid anchored carbon-supported platinum catalyst for polymer electrolyte fuel cell electrodes

Selvarani, G and Sahu, AK and Choudhury, NA and Sridhar, P and Pitchumani, S and Shukla, AK (2007) A phenyl-sulfonic acid anchored carbon-supported platinum catalyst for polymer electrolyte fuel cell electrodes. In: Electrochimica Acta, 52 (15). pp. 4871-4877.

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Abstract

A method, to anchor phenyl-sulfonic acid functional groups with the platinum catalyst supported onto a high surface- area carbon substrate, is reported. The use of the catalyst in the electrodes of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) helps enhancing its performance. Characterization of the catalyst by Fourier transform infra red (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and point-of-zero-charge (PZC) studies suggests that the improvement in performance of the PEFC is facilitated not only by enlarging the three-phase boundary in the catalyst layer but also by providing ionic-conduction paths as well as by imparting negative charge to platinum sites with concomitant oxidation of sulfur present in the carbon support. It is argued that the negatively charged platinum sites help repel water facilitating oxygen to access the catalyst sites. The PEFC with modified carbon-supported platinum catalyst electrodes exhibits 40% enhancement in its power density as compared to the one with unmodified carbon-supported platinum catalyst electrodes.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Electrochimica Acta
Publisher:	Elsevier
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Elsevier.
Keywords:	Polymer electrolyte fuel cell;X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy;Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy;Phenyl-sulfonic acid;Point-of-zero-charge
Department/Centre:	Division of Chemical Sciences > Solid State & Structural Chemistry Unit
Date Deposited:	21 Aug 2007
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:39
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/11740

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