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Platinum-decorated carbon nanotubes for hydrogen oxidation and proton reduction in solid acid electrochemical cells

Thoi, V. Sara and Usiskin, Robert E. and Haile, Sossina M. (2015) Platinum-decorated carbon nanotubes for hydrogen oxidation and proton reduction in solid acid electrochemical cells. Chemical Science, 6 (2). pp. 1570-1577. ISSN 2041-6520. PMCID PMC5811139. doi:10.1039/c4sc03003f. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20150105-134450527

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Abstract

Pt-decorated carbon nanotubes (Pt-CNTs) were used to enhance proton reduction and hydrogen evolution in solid acid electrochemical cells based on the proton-conducting electrolyte CsH_2PO_4. The carbon nanotubes served as interconnects to the current collector and as a platform for interaction between the Pt and CsH_2PO_4, ensuring minimal catalyst isolation and a large number density of active sites. Particle size matching was achieved by using electrospray deposition to form sub-micron to nanometric CsH_2PO_4. A porous composite electrode was fabricated from electrospray deposition of a solution of Pt-CNTs and CsH_2PO_4. Using AC impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry, the total electrode overpotential corresponding to proton reduction and hydrogen oxidation of the most active electrodes containing just 0.014 mg cm^(−1) of Pt was found to be 0.1 V (or 0.05 V per electrode) at a current density of 42 mA cm^(−2) for a measurement temperature of 240 °C and a hydrogen-steam atmosphere. The zero bias electrode impedance was 1.2 Ω cm2, corresponding to a Pt utilization of 61 S mg^(−1), a 3-fold improvement over state-of-the-art electrodes with a 50× decrease in Pt loading.


Item Type:Article
Related URLs:
URLURL TypeDescription
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c4sc03003fDOIArticle
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5811139PubMed CentralArticle
ORCID:
AuthorORCID
Haile, Sossina M.0000-0002-5293-6252
Additional Information:© 2015 The Royal Society of Chemistry. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. Received 30 Sep 2014, Accepted 10 Dec 2014, First published online 22 Dec 2014. This work was supported by the Dow-Bridge Program through the Resnick Sustainability Institute at Caltech, as well as by a Resnick Graduate Student Fellowship (R.E.U.). We thank Dr Tim Davenport, Michael Ignatowich, and Webster Guan for their assistance in TGA measurements, and Nate Thomas and Anupama Khan for their assistance in imaging. We also acknowledge Prof. George R. Rossman for his assistance with Raman Spectroscopy, Ben Myers from Northwestern University's Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental Center (NUANCE) for SEM imaging (Fig. 2). In addition, we acknowledge Caltech's Kavli Nanoscience Institute (KNI) for access to additional imaging instrumentation and the Molecular Materials Research Center at Caltech for the use of the Cahn C-35 Ultra-Microbalance.
Group:Resnick Sustainability Institute, Kavli Nanoscience Institute
Funders:
Funding AgencyGrant Number
Dow-Bridge ProgramUNSPECIFIED
Resnick Sustainability InstituteUNSPECIFIED
Issue or Number:2
PubMed Central ID:PMC5811139
DOI:10.1039/c4sc03003f
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20150105-134450527
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20150105-134450527
Official Citation:Thoi, V. S., Usiskin, R. E., & Haile, S. M. (2015). Platinum-decorated carbon nanotubes for hydrogen oxidation and proton reduction in solid acid electrochemical cells. [10.1039/C4SC03003F]. Chemical Science, 6(2), 1570-1577. doi: 10.1039/c4sc03003f
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:53190
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: Tony Diaz
Deposited On:06 Jan 2015 19:16
Last Modified:25 Apr 2022 18:44

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