Modification of carbon aerogel supports for PEMFC catalysts

Nitrogen enriched carbon aerogels and Co-based non-noble metal catalysts supported on carbon aerogels have been synthesized and tested using XPS, HRTEM, XRD and RDE techniques. XPS spectra of unmodified carbon aerogels indicated a presence of two oxygen O(1s) groups and five carbon C(1s) groups in deconvoluted spectra. XPS spectra of chemically modified samples indicated nitrogen N(1s) introduced in the carbon aerogel structure by acidic (HNO3) or basic (NH4OH) chemical treatment.Synthesis of aerogel supported Co catalysts performed by using Co-methoxy-tetra-phenylporfirin as a macrocyclic compound incorporated into the aerogel structure, and sintered at 700 and 900 °C in N2, revealed the presence of Co-metal nano-particles with 20 nm diameter. HRTEM and diffraction patterns show a β-Co FCC structure with many {111}<110> micro-twins in the Co nano-particles. The electrochemical properties of the synthesized catalysts in O2-free and O2-saturated sulfuric and perchloric acid solutions, evaluated by a rotating disc electrode (RDE) technique, demonstrated catalytic activity in hydrogen oxidation and oxygen reduction reactions.