Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) on Platinum Coated Nafion Membrane: Effects of Synthesis Conditions

The present study describes the catalytic activity of the platinum coated Nafion membranes towards oxygen reduction reaction in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. In contrast to the conventional three layered structures of the gas diffusion electrode, as-made gas diffusion electrodes are two layered in which the platinum electrocatalyst are deposited directly onto the Nafion membrane. Spin-coating method and impregnation-reduction approaches were used to synthesize Pt-coated Nafion membranes. Both methods showed comparable results. The performance data revealed that the catalytic activity of the Nafion-Pt-GDL electrode was strongly affected by the Nafion treatment and platinum crystal structures. The results suggest that spin-coated method is a very successful technique for producing low loading of platinum electrocatalyst. Not only platinum catalyst, but also a wide arrange of catalyst-coated Nafion membranes such as palladium/Nafion can be prepared by this approach.