Photochemically modified ATO NPs as conductive support of Pt electrocatalysts for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) nanoparticles (NPs) were covalently modified with a benzophenone-silicate photoreactive organic molecule to enable the UV-mediated photoreduction of Pt(IV) on the surface of the ATO NPs to give Pt(0) NPs. The successfully synthesized Pt/ATO nanocomposites (NCs) that were based on these novel hybrid photoreactive ATO NPs showed a much better Pt dispersion than Pt/ATO NCs prepared by traditional methods. The size of the Pt NPs was below 2.8 nm for all the NCs. The prepared NCs were studied with respect to their properties as durable and active electrocatalysts for proton exchange membrane fuel cells. They were subjected to fuel-cell-relevant electrochemical characterization by rotating disc electrode cyclic voltammetry. The electrochemically active surface area was found to be significantly lower for the novel NCs than for the standard Pt/C catalyst, while on the other hand, their specific electrocatalytic activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was found to exceed that of the reference Pt/C by several times. The ORR activity in terms of the mass of Pt was comparable to, or greater than, that of the Pt/C. The stability towards electrochemical ageing was greatly improved for Pt/ATO NCs relative to Pt/C