A pulse electrochemical deposition method to prepare membrane electrode assemblies with ultra-low anode Pt loadings through in situ construction of active core–shell nanoparticles on an electrode

• Novel MEA with low Pt loading of 0.012 mg cm−2 at anode prepared by a pulse electrodeposition method.
• Ir@Pt nanoparticles were prepared by in-situ depositing Pt atoms on the Ir/C nanoparticles.
• The MEA shows excellent single cell performance and high Pt utilization.
• The synergetic effect of Pt in shell and Ir in core may result in the ultra-high performance of the MEA.

Ultra-low Pt loading membrane electrode assemblies (ULP MEAs) are prepared through in situ construction of core–shell Ir@Pt nanoparticles (Ir/Vulcan XC-72R as the core) on the surface of an electrode via a pulse electrochemical deposition (PED) approach. The core material is coated on a membrane with a conventional catalyst-coated membrane process prior to the deposition of the shell metal (Pt in this case). The ULP MEAs are characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The effects of a number of preparation parameters on cell performance are investigated in detail. The performance of the ULP MEA, in which the anode loadings of Pt and metals are ∼0.012 mg cm−2 and 0.044 mg cm−2(0.012 mg cm−2 Pt + 0.032 mg cm−2 Ir) respectively, is found to be competitive with that of an MEA prepared with an anode Pt loading of 0.1 mg cm−2 (commercial Pt/C catalyst from Johnson Matthey), manifesting the solid advantage of this in situ PED method.

In situ construction of active core–shell Ir@Pt nanoparticles on the surface of an electrode, with Pt loading down to 0.012 mg cm−2 at anode side of MEA, is achieved by pulse electrochemical deposition method. It is found that prepared MEA exhibits excellent performance and stability. The performance of the MEA with Pt loading of 0.012 mg cm−2 at anode is comparable to that of the MEA prepared with conventional method and with Pt loading of 0.1 mg cm−2.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide