Microbial synthesis of N, P co-doped carbon supported PtCu catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

Developing highly efficient and stable platinum-based electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is critical to expediting commercialization of fuel cells. Herein, several PtCu alloy nanocatalysts supported on N, P co-doped carbon (PtCu/NPC) were prepared by microbial-sorption and carbonization-reduction. Among them, PtCu/NPC-700 °C exhibits excellent catalytic performance for ORR with a mass activity of 0.895 A mgPt−1 (@0.9 V) which is 8.29 folds of commercial Pt/C. Additionally, the ECSA and MA of PtCu/NPC-700 °C only decrease by 14.2% and 18.7% respectively, while Pt/C decreases by 35.2% and 52.8% after 10,000 cycles of ADT test. Moreover, the PtCu/NPC-700 °C catalyst emanates a maximum power density of 715 mW cm−2 and only 11.1% loss of maximum power density after 10,000 ADTs in single-cell test, indicating PtCu/NPC-700 °C also manifests higher activity and durability in actual single-cell operation than Pt/C. This research provides an easy and novel strategy for developing highly active and durable Pt-based alloy catalyst.