Durability of carbon/conducting polymer composite supported Pt catalystsprepared by supercritical carbon dioxide deposition

Abstract

Polypyrrole (PPy)/carbon (C) composites were synthesized by oxidative chemical polymerization and usedas support material for Pt nanoparticles. PPy/C supported Pt nanoparticles were prepared by using a promising catalystpreparation method, supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) deposition. The prepared materials were characterized byusing BET, TGA, XRD, and TEM techniques. Cyclic voltammetry was used in order to determine the electrocatalyticactivity of the prepared catalyst for hydrogen oxidation and oxygen reduction reactions that occur in proton exchangemembrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The Pt loading obtained over the composite material was around 10%. TEM resultsshowed highly dispersed and small nanoparticles over the composite material by using scCO2deposition. Pt dissolu-tion/agglomeration and carbon corrosion tests were applied to the composite supported Pt catalyst in order to determineits durability.