Platinum decorated on ZIF-8 based nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon composites for PEM fuel cells

The use of pyrolysis in the fabrication of nitrogen doped carbon (NC) composites derived from zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) is becoming a simple and popular method to prepare an outstanding catalyst support having different morphology and activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in the PEM fuel cells. In this study, different catalyst support materials (NC-t, where t is corresponding pyrolysis temperatures of 600 degrees C, 800 degrees C and 1000 degrees C) were successfully derived from the pyrolysis of pristine ZIF-8. The catalyst supports were physically characterized by XRD, XPS, SEM/ED-S, elemental analysis, FTIR, and Raman spectra. The prepared catalyst support materials were loaded with platinum nanoparticles and their ORR electrocatalyst properties were studied in single PEM fuel cell test station with polarization curves. In the fuel cell test, Pt/NC-800 degrees C composite catalyst showed the highest current density performance of 385 mA/cm2 at 0.6 V. The Pt/NC-800 degrees C composite showed the highest performance due to the higher graphitic N content which enhances the catalytic activity towards ORR.