Platinum-decorated carbon nanotubes for hydrogen oxidation and proton reduction in solid acid electrochemical cellsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c4sc03003f

Pt-decorated carbon nanotubes (Pt-CNTs) were used to enhance proton reduction and hydrogen evolution in solid acid electrochemical cells based on the proton-conducting electrolyte CsH 2 PO 4 . The carbon nanotubes served as interconnects to the current collector and as a platform for interaction bet...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Thoi, V. Sara, Usiskin, Robert E, Haile, Sossina M
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Pt-decorated carbon nanotubes (Pt-CNTs) were used to enhance proton reduction and hydrogen evolution in solid acid electrochemical cells based on the proton-conducting electrolyte CsH 2 PO 4 . The carbon nanotubes served as interconnects to the current collector and as a platform for interaction between the Pt and CsH 2 PO 4 , ensuring minimal catalyst isolation and a large number density of active sites. Particle size matching was achieved by using electrospray deposition to form sub-micron to nanometric CsH 2 PO 4 . A porous composite electrode was fabricated from electrospray deposition of a solution of Pt-CNTs and CsH 2 PO 4 . Using AC impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry, the total electrode overpotential corresponding to proton reduction and hydrogen oxidation of the most active electrodes containing just 0.014 mg cm −1 of Pt was found to be 0.1 V (or 0.05 V per electrode) at a current density of 42 mA cm −2 for a measurement temperature of 240 °C and a hydrogen-steam atmosphere. The zero bias electrode impedance was 1.2 Ω cm 2 , corresponding to a Pt utilization of 61 S mg −1 , a 3-fold improvement over state-of-the-art electrodes with a 50× decrease in Pt loading. Carbon nanotubes are used as interconnects between directly deposited Pt nanoparticles and a proton conducting solid acid electrolyte for proton reduction and hydrogen oxidation in CsH 2 PO 4 -based solid acid cells. These composite electrodes significantly reduce the Pt loading and achieve record Pt utilization for solid acid cells.
ISSN:2041-6520
2041-6539
DOI:10.1039/c4sc03003f