Pt0.61Ni/C for High-Efficiency Cathode of Fuel Cells with Superhigh Platinum Utilization

Exploring advanced electrocatalysts to accelerate the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is a promising route to alleviate the current challenges of fossil fuel exhaustion and environment pollution. Herein, a carbon-supported highly dispersed PtNi nanocatalyst (Pt0.61Ni/C) with low platinum content of 2.76 wt % was prepared simply based on galvanic replacement for a high-efficiency ORR process. It presents a mass activity of ∼5 times of the conventional Pt-based catalyst at 0.9 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)) and a remarkable durability and methanol tolerance. The acidic fuel cell with such cathode catalyst (Pt0.61Ni/C) presents a striking performance with maximum power density up to 1.1 W cm–2at 80 °C. Due to the extremely low platinum loading in the whole fuel cell, its Pt utilization (0.093 gPtkW–1) is the highest reported ever in H2/O2fuel cells. Such impressive performance of Pt0.61Ni/C makes the obtained Pt0.61Ni/C catalyst a very promising alternative to conventional Pt-based catalysts for their large-scale application in future.