A Robust Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction Assembled with Pt Nanoclusters and A Melem‐Modified Carbon Support

Highly active and stable cathode catalysts are crucial functional materials for high-performance proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Herein, robust cathode catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (Pt/melem-modified carbon (MMC)) that are assembled with Pt nanoclusters (NCs) and MMC supports are reported. The mass activity (MA) of a Pt/MMC catalyst reaches 907 mA mg(pt)(-1), which is 3.9 and 4.2 times over a homemade Pt/C catalyst (Pt/VXC-72R) and a commercial Pt/C catalyst with similar Pt particle sizes, respectively. After 10 000 voltage cycles from 1.0 to 1.5 Vat 60 degrees C, the MA of Pt/MMC decreases by only 2% from the initial value, vastly superior to that of the Pt/C catalysts. Theoretical calculations and X-ray absorption fine structure analysis results show that chemical bonds form between Pt nanoclusters and MMC. The adsorption energies of OOH* on the catalytic sites in Pt/MMC obviously increase, while those of OH-* decrease compared with those on Pt/C, which accounts for the measured high catalytic activity, providing a promising manner to overcome the specific scaling relations between the stability of adsorbed OH-* and OOH* on a given Pt surface. The high durability of Pt/M MC derives from strong chemical interactions between Pt NCs and the support MMC.