Sonoelectrochemical one-pot synthesis of Pt - Carbon black nanocomposite PEMFC electrocatalyst

Dionysios S Karousos; Kostantinos I Desdenakis; Petros M Sakkas; Georgia Sourkouni; Bruno G Pollet; Christos Argirusis

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2016.05.023

Sonoelectrochemical one-pot synthesis of Pt - Carbon black nanocomposite PEMFC electrocatalyst

Ultrason Sonochem. 2017 Mar;35(Pt B):591-597. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2016.05.023. Epub 2016 May 13.

Authors

Dionysios S Karousos¹, Kostantinos I Desdenakis², Petros M Sakkas², Georgia Sourkouni³, Bruno G Pollet⁴, Christos Argirusis⁵

Affiliations

¹ National Centre for Scientific Research, Demokritos, Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, P.O. Box 60228, 153 10, Aghia Paraskevi, Athens, Greece.
² National Technical University of Athens, School of Chemical Engineering, Zografou Campus, 9 Heroon Polytechneiou St., 15773 Zografou-Athens, Greece.
³ Institut für Energieforschung und Physikalische Technologien, Clausthal University of Technology, Leibnizstr. 4, 38678 Clausthal-Zell., Germany; Clausthaler Zentrum für Materialforschung (CZM), Agricola Str. 2, 38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany.
⁴ South African Institute for Advanced Materials Chemistry (SAIAMC), Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Robert Sobukwe Road, Bellville 7535, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁵ National Technical University of Athens, School of Chemical Engineering, Zografou Campus, 9 Heroon Polytechneiou St., 15773 Zografou-Athens, Greece; Institut für Energieforschung und Physikalische Technologien, Clausthal University of Technology, Leibnizstr. 4, 38678 Clausthal-Zell., Germany; Clausthaler Zentrum für Materialforschung (CZM), Agricola Str. 2, 38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany. Electronic address: amca@chemeng.ntua.gr.

PMID: 27217306
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2016.05.023

Abstract

Simultaneous electrocatalytic Pt-nanoparticle synthesis and decoration of Vulcan XC-72 carbon black substrate was achieved in a novel one-step-process, combining galvanostatic pulsed electrodeposition and pulsed ultrasonication with high power, low-frequency (20kHz) ultrasound. Aqueous chloroplatinic acid precursor baths, as well as carbon black suspensions in the former, were examined and decoration was proven by a combination of characterization methods, namely: dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with EDX-analysis and cyclic voltammetry. In particular, PVP was shown to have a beneficial stabilizing effect against free nanoparticle aggregation, ensuring narrow size distributions of the nanoparticles synthesized, but is also postulated to prevent the establishment of a strong metal-substrate interaction. Current pulse amplitude was identified as the most critical nanoparticle size-determining parameters, while only small size particles, under 10nm, appeared to be attached to carbon black.

Keywords: Carbon black; Decoration; Nanoparticles; PEM fuel cells; Platinum; Sonoelectrochemistry.