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Pt Nanoparticles Supported on Niobium-Doped Tin Dioxide: Impact of the Support Morphology on Pt Utilization and Electrocatalytic Activity

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Abstract

Two synthesis routes were used to design high surface area niobium-doped tin dioxide (Nb-doped SnO2, NTO) nanostructures with either loose-tube (fibre-in-tube) morphology using electrospinning or aerogel morphology using a sol-gel process. A higher specific surface area but a lower apparent electrical conductivity was obtained on the NTO aerogel compared to the loose tubes. The NTO aerogels and loose tubes and two reference materials (undoped SnO2 aerogel and Vulcan XC72) were platinized with a single colloidal suspension and tested as oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts for proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) applications. The specific surface area of the supports strongly influenced the mass fraction of deposited Pt nanoparticles (NPs) and their degree of agglomeration. The apparent electrical conductivity of the supports determined the electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) and the catalytic activity of the Pt NPs for the ORR. Based on these findings, electrospinning appears to be the preferred route to synthesize NTO supports for PEMFC cathode application.

On top : SEM images of the synthesized supports : 5.0 at.% Nb-doped SnO2 aerogel (NTO-AG) and loose tubes (NTO-LT) - At the bottom : specific activity (SA0.90) and mass activity (MA0.90) of the synthesized electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) determined at E = 0.90 V vs. RHE as a function of the conductivity of the supports

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge Pierre Ilbizian for supercritical drying and Suzanne Jacomet for SEM observations of the TO and NTO aerogels.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Grenoble Alpes, LEPMI, F-38000, Grenoble, France

    Gwenn Cognard, Marian Chatenet & Frédéric Maillard

  2. CNRS, LEPMI, F-38000, Grenoble, France

    Gwenn Cognard, Marian Chatenet & Frédéric Maillard

  3. MINES ParisTech, PSL Research University PERSEE - Centre procédés, énergies renouvelables et systèmes énergétiques, CS 10207 rue Claude Daunesse, F-06904, Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France

    Guillaume Ozouf, Christian Beauger & Marian Chatenet

  4. Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier, Agrégats Interfaces Matériaux pour l’Energie, Université de Montpellier, UMR CNRS 5253, Cedex 5, 34095, Montpellier, France

    Ignacio Jiménez-Morales, Sara Cavaliere, Deborah Jones & Jacques Rozière

  5. French University Institute, Paris, France

    Marian Chatenet

Authors
  1. Gwenn Cognard
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  2. Guillaume Ozouf
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  9. Frédéric Maillard
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Correspondence to Gwenn Cognard or Frédéric Maillard.

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Funding

The authors acknowledge financial support from the French National Research Agency through the SURICAT project (grant number ANR-12-PRGE-007) and the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program for the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative under grant agreement No. 325239 (FCH-JU project Nano-CAT) as well as Capenergies and Tenerrdis. MC thanks the French IUF for its support. SC acknowledges the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007 − 2013)/ERC Grant Agreement No. 306682.

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Cognard, G., Ozouf, G., Beauger, C. et al. Pt Nanoparticles Supported on Niobium-Doped Tin Dioxide: Impact of the Support Morphology on Pt Utilization and Electrocatalytic Activity. Electrocatalysis 8, 51–58 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12678-016-0340-z

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