A study on the role of carbon support materials for fuel-cell catalysts

The ideal support material for fuel-cells catalysts should have the followingcharacteristics: high electrical conductivity, adequate water-handling capability at theelectrode, and also good corrosion resistance under oxidizing conditions. Whereas carbonblacks are the common support materials for electrocatalysts, new forms of carbon materialssuch as graphite nanofibers (GNFs), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), ordered mesoporous carbons(OMC) had been investigated as catalyst supports.In the present article, the size and the loading efficiency of metal particles wereinvestigated by changing the preparation method of carbon-supported platinum catalysts.First, the effect of acid/base treatment on carbon blacks supports on the preparation andelectroactivity of platinum catalysts. Secondly, binary carbon-supported platinum (Pt)nanoparticles were prepared using two types of carbon materials such as carbon blacks (CBs)and graphite nanofibers (GNFs) to check the influence of carbon supports on theelectroactivity of catalyst electrodes. Lastly, plasma treatment or oxyfluorination treatmenteffects of carbon supports on the nano-structure as well as the electroactivity of the carbonsupportedplatinum catalysts for DMFCs were studied.