A Porous Wrinkled Graphitic Carbon as Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Support for Durable Fuel-Cell Catalysts

The lifespan of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells heavily relies on the durability of the carbon support of cathode catalysts. However, commercial carbon supports like ketjenblack (KB) and Vulcan carbon (VC) face the challenge of balancing porosity, surface area, and electrochemical stability. To address this issue, a 3D porous wrinkled graphitic carbon (PWGC) is designed and synthesized using a catalyst-free, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition approach. The resulting PWGC possesses a hierarchically porous structure with a high surface area, a high degree of graphitization, and exceptional corrosion resistance. As a result, the Pt/PWGC catalysts with the use of PWGC as the carbon support demonstrate superior high potential stability compared to those made with KB and VC as the carbon support. Additionally, a sacrificial layer strategy is introduced to further reduce PWGC corrosion, resulting in Pt@C/PWGC catalysts that show significantly improved durability in membrane electrode assembly tests. After 5K voltage cycles from 1.0 to 1.5 V, the retention of electrochemically active surface area approaches 56.8%, surpassing the 23.6% retention of commercial Pt/C catalysts tested under the same conditions.