Chelating agent assisted microwave synthesis of carbon supported Pt nanoparticles for low temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells

Colloidal suspensions of almost spherical crystalline Pt nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution were synthesized using a microwave synthesis process. Pt(phen)22+ complex (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, C12H10N2) was used as a precursor which was incorporated onto commercial Vulcan XC-72 carbon powder. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the Pt/C catalysts. It was found that the Pt nanoparticles were uniform in size and highly dispersed on the carbon black supports. The chelating agent improves the Pt particle size as well as the dispersion of Pt nanoparticles. In the PEMFC experiments, the current density and power density of the catalysts were as high as those of the reference commercial catalysts.