Novel synthesis of a highly active carbon-supported Ru85Se15 chalcogenide catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction

A carbon-supported Ru85Se15 chalcogenide catalyst was synthesized via a microwave-assisted polyol process using RuCl3 and Na2SeO3 as the Ru and Se precursors. The Ru85Se15 chalcogenide catalyst was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and inductively-coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The XRD pattern for Ru85Se15/C clearly exhibited the characteristic reflections of metallic ruthenium. The TEM image indicated that the Ru85Se15 chalcogenide catalyst was well dispersed on the surface of the carbon support with a narrow particle size distribution. Rotating disk electrode (RDE) and single-cell measurements were carried out to evaluate the electrocatalytic activity of the Ru85Se15 chalcogenide catalyst. The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of the Ru85Se15/C catalyst was compared with the commercial Pt/C catalyst with the absence/presence of methanol. In the absence of methanol, the Ru85Se15/C catalyst showed a comparable ORR activity with the Pt/C catalyst. However, in the presence of methanol, the Ru85Se15/C catalyst showed a better ORR activity than the Pt/C catalyst. The performance of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) prepared with Ru85Se15/C as the cathode catalyst in a single proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) showed the maximum power density of 400 mW cm−2 at the current density of 1300 mA cm−2.