Catalytic performance of acid-treated multi-walled carbon nanotube-supported platinum catalyst for PEM fuel cells

Effects of the surface functional groups of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as catalyst support for the durability of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) were examined at high Pt loading conditions. The amount of oxygen functional groups on the MWCNTs surface was increased as the acid treatment time and temperature increased. We found that more functional groups in MWCNTs improved initial Pt dispersion but deteriorated durability due to the reduced carbon corrosion resistance. The experimental results also showed that despite the surface oxidation, Pt/MWCNT catalysts showed highly improved durability than Pt/C catalysts due to the graphitic nature of MWCNTs. Membrane electrode assembly (MEA) fabricated by 4 h acid treated MWCNTs at 25 °C showed 4 times better durability than commercial Pt/C based MEA at the reverse potential operation generated by fuel starvation conditions. We believe that MWCNTs can be effectively used for PEMFCs even at high loading due to their excellent anti-corrosion properties.