Catalysts based on Pt nanoparticles supported on carbon (Pt/C) are widely used in proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) cathodes. The Pt weight percent (wt%) and the type of carbon used influence the PEMFC performance and durability, but the mechanism of this influence remains poorly understood. Herein, we systematically investigated the effect of catalyst metal content and the type of carbon support on PEMFC performance and durability by employing two types of commercially available Pt/C catalysts. We evaluated the effect of differences in both local and average Pt wt% on both high surface area carbon (HSC) and Vulcan XC72, including durability testing with 30,000 accelerated stress test cycles. The results show that Pt wt% is the main factor controlling durability of Pt/HSC, with local Pt content being more important than average Pt content. Selection of Pt wt% on the HSC support involves a balance between durability (lower wt% better) and performance (higher wt% better). For Pt/Vulcan, durability and performance were found to be less dependent of Pt wt%. These findings can help guide the design of fuel cell electrodes, especially when dealing with the selection of carbon support and Pt wt%.

中文翻译：

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催化剂金属含量和碳载体对质子交换膜燃料电池性能和耐久性的影响


基于碳负载的 Pt 纳米颗粒 （Pt/C） 的催化剂广泛用于质子交换膜燃料电池 （PEMFC） 阴极。Pt 重量百分比 （wt%） 和所用碳的类型会影响 PEMFC 的性能和耐久性，但这种影响的机制仍然知之甚少。在此，我们通过采用两种类型的市售 Pt/C 催化剂，系统研究了催化剂金属含量和碳载体类型对 PEMFC 性能和耐久性的影响。我们评估了局部和平均 Pt wt% 的差异对高表面积碳 （HSC） 和 Vulcan XC72 的影响，包括使用 30,000 次加速应力测试循环进行耐久性测试。结果表明，Pt wt% 是控制 Pt/HSC 耐久性的主要因素，局部 Pt 含量比平均 Pt 含量更重要。在 HSC 载体上选择 Pt wt% 涉及耐用性（wt% 越低越好）和性能（wt% 越高越好）之间的平衡。对于 Pt/Vulcan，发现耐久性和性能对 Pt wt% 的依赖性较小。这些发现有助于指导燃料电池电极的设计，尤其是在处理碳载体和 Pt wt% 的选择时。