Novel route of enhancing the metal loading in highly active Pt/C electro-catalyst by polyol process

Polyol process를 통한 고비율 백금 담지 촉매 합성

A modified polyol process is developed to enhance Pt loading during the preparation of Pt/C catalysts. With the help of the zeta potential, the effect of pH on the electrostatic forces between the support and the Pt colloid is investigated. It is shown experimentally that the surface charge on the carbon support becomes more electropositive when the solution pH is changed from alkaline to acidic. However, this change does not affect the electronegative surface charge of Pt colloids already attained and stabilized by glycolate anions. This new behavior caused by the change in the solution pH accounts for the enhanced yield of the process and does not affect the Pt particle size. All our experimental results reveal that this simple modification is a cost effective method for the synthesis of highly Pt loaded Pt/C catalysts for fuel cells.