Issue 20, 2013

Ultra-thin platinum catalytic electrodes fabricated by atomic layer deposition

Abstract

Because noble metal catalysts (e.g. Pt) are one of the main contributors to low-temperature (<500 °C) fuel cell costs, significant efforts have been made to lower the noble metal loading in constructing fuel cell electrodes. In this work, ultra-thin (∼10 nm) platinum (Pt) cathode/catalyst layers were patterned by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and tested as catalytic electrodes (cathode) for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells. We found that 180 cycles or approximately 10 nm of ALD Pt, with a Pt loading of only 0.02 mg cm−2, were sufficient for the purpose of a catalytic cathode. Furthermore, this ALD Pt resulted in fuel cell performance comparable to that achieved by 80 nm-thick sputtered Pt. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) observations revealed the optimized number of ALD cycles of Pt for the catalytic electrode, which renders both contiguity and high triple-phase boundary (TPB) density. This result suggests the ability to significantly reduce Pt loading, thereby reducing the cost, and furthermore, can be easily applied to high performance fuel cells with complex 3-D structures.

Graphical abstract: Ultra-thin platinum catalytic electrodes fabricated by atomic layer deposition

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 Mar 2013
Accepted
07 Mar 2013
First published
25 Mar 2013

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2013,15, 7520-7525

Ultra-thin platinum catalytic electrodes fabricated by atomic layer deposition

J. An, Y. Kim and F. B. Prinz, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2013, 15, 7520 DOI: 10.1039/C3CP50996F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements