Development of Mesoporous Carbon Fibers for PEFC Catalyst Supports

Mesoporous carbon fiber (MCF) with the pore diameter of 5 nm and the BET surface area of 380 m2 g-1 has been analyzed as an electrocatalyst for PEFC after depositing Pt nanoparticles. Fundamental electrochemical characteristics of Pt deposited MCF has been compared with Pt deposited bulk mesoporous carbon and a commercial electrocatalyst, Pt deposited on Ketjen black. We have found that there is not much difference on fundamental oxygen reduction reaction activity among these three electrocatalysts. Therefore, fiber structure in MCF is expected for an advantage on constructing three dimensional cathode structure without changing fundamental electrochemical aspects.