Development of ATO as an alternative catalyst support for PEM fuel cells

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells demonstrated to be feasible energy converters that convert chemical energy of fuels to electrical energy. The technology has proven to be competitive with conventional energy converters such as batteries and internal combustion engines. However; several challenges influence the commercialization of this technology which includes high costs, durability, and stability, which are contributed by the PEM fuel cell catalysts. Currently, the carbon-supported platinum electro-catalyst is being used. Unfortunately, carbon supports are not stable enough for fuel cell durability due to carbon corrosion on the cathode. Therefore it is necessary to replace carbon support materials to improve the durability of PEM fuel cells. In this study, antimony doped tin oxide (ATO) metal oxides are synthesized as alternative platinum catalyst support via co-precipitation with different antimony doping levels of 5, 7, and 10 %. The preliminary results of the acid resistance test show that the support is relatively acid-resistant with minor loss of dopant in acidic conditions. Surface area measurements, XRD, TEM, ICP characterization will be performed on the ATO before and after the addition of 40 wt. % of Pt particles. The mass and specific activity measurements for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and durability via ex-situ thin-fil rotating disc electrode (RDE) of Pt/ATO catalyst and the traditionally used Pt/C catalyst will be compared.