Carbon nanotube film by filtration as cathode catalyst support for proton-exchange membrane fuel cell

Wenzhen Li; Xin Wang; Zhongwei Chen; Mahesh Waje; Yushan Yan

doi:10.1021/la051124y

Carbon nanotube film by filtration as cathode catalyst support for proton-exchange membrane fuel cell

Langmuir. 2005 Oct 11;21(21):9386-9. doi: 10.1021/la051124y.

Authors

Wenzhen Li¹, Xin Wang, Zhongwei Chen, Mahesh Waje, Yushan Yan

Affiliation

¹ Department of Chemical and Environment Engineering and College of Engineering, Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.

PMID: 16207008
DOI: 10.1021/la051124y

Abstract

A simple filtration method is developed to prepare a partially oriented superhydrophobic film of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that have been catalyzed with uniform small Pt nanoparticles (2.8 nm) at high metal loading (30 wt %). A proton-exchange membrane fuel cell with the oriented CNT film as the cathode achieves higher single-cell performance than those with carbon black and a disordered CNT-film-based cathode probably because of the enhanced electrocatalytic activity of Pt/CNT and improved mass transport within the oriented film.