Application of Corn Oil Derived Carbon Nano-onions Using Flame Pyrolysis as Durable Catalyst Support for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

Abstract

The reliance of carbon black as catalyst support for Pt in PEM fuel cell has posed a major challenge in its durability as carbon blacks are highly prone to corrosion. As an alternative, CNTs, CNFs, and graphene are explored as catalyst support, however at the expense of tedious synthesis procedure and production cost. So to combat this issue, a facile flame pyrolysis route was adopted to produce carbon nano-onions using eco-friendly corn oil. Further modification in the carbon nano-onions exhibited better corrosion resistance in comparison to carbon black (Vulcan XC-72R). Also, a systematic approach was adopted towards developing a durable electrocatalyst which was designed to withstand harsh fuel cell operating conditions. The electrocatalyst was successfully analyzed using stringent standard testing protocols (< 40% ECSA loss). Among all the electrocatalyst studied, Pt/fOC exhibited only 37.1% loss in electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) after 5000 cycles, thus indicating its excellent durability. A full cell was also constructed with Pt/fOC as cathode electrocatalyst which showed a maximum power density of 365 mW cm⁻², comparable to commercial Pt/C (367 mW cm⁻²). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the application of corn oil derived carbon nano-onions as catalyst support for PEM fuel cells.