Surfactant-assisted synthesis of platinum nanoparticle catalysts for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

High-performance platinum nanoparticle catalysts (Pt–NPCs) remain the most widespread applied electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Here, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), a surface-controlling agent, is introduced to modulate the microstructure and size of Pt nanoparticles (NPs) via a microwave-assisted heating process. The Pt-NPC assisted by 5 wt% CTAB exhibits the highest mass activity (MA) of 0.072 A mgPt−1 and specific activity (SA) of 0.077 mA cm−2, higher than those of commercial Pt/C (0.023 A mgPt−1 and 0.035 mA cm−2). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results indicate that Pt NPs are uniformly dispersed onto carbon supports with an average size of 2.39 nm. When applied in membrane electrode assembly (MEA), it exhibits the highest power density of 1.142 W cm−2, which is about 1.24 times larger than that of commercial Pt/C.