A High-Durability Graphitic Black Pearl Supported Pt Catalyst for a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Stack

Graphitized black pearl (GBP) 2000 supported Pt nanoparticle catalysts is synthesized by a formic acid reduction method. The results of a half-cell accelerated degradation test (ADT) of two protocols and a single-cell ADT show that, Pt/GBP catalyst has excellent stability and durability compared with commercial Pt/C. Especially, the survival time of Pt/GBP-membrane electrode assembly (MEA) reaches 205 min, indicating that it has better reversal tolerance. After the 1003-hour durability test, the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack with Pt/GBP presents a slow voltage degradation rate of 5.19% and 36 μV h−1 at 1000 mA cm−2. The durability of the stack is improved because of the durability and stability of the catalyst. In addition, the post morphology characterizations indicate that the structure and particle size of the Pt/GBP catalyst remain unchanged during the dynamic testing protocol, implying its better stability under dynamic load cycles. Therefore, Pt/GBP is a valuable and promising catalyst for PEMFC, and considered as an alternative to classical Pt/C.