Hierarchical nanostructured carbon as catalyst support in proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Ordered hierarchical nanostructured carbon (OHNC) has been fabricated through inverse replication of silica template [4] and explored to support high loading of Pt and PtRu nanoparticles as electrocatalysts in PEMFC. The superb characteristics such as ordered hierarchical nanostructure consisting of ordered macropores of 300- 400 nm and interconnected mesopores of 10 -20 nm, large surface area and mesopore volume enable the OHNC to support high loading (60 wt%) of Pt-based nanoparticles with uniform dispersion and small particle size. The OHNC-supported Pt(50)-Ru(50) anode catalyst has demonstrated great improvement in electrocatalytic activity toward hydrogen oxidation and much higher power density (an enhancement ~ 70 %) than the commercial carbon black Vulcan XC-72-supported Pt-Ru in PEMFC application.