Flue Gas and Electrolyte Additives as a Means to Optimize CO 2 -Derived Supports for Platinum Electrocatalysts

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🔬研究者:For researchers in CCUS and electrocatalysis, this study demonstrates a method to tailor CO2-derived carbon supports using flue gas impurities, influencing Pt catalyst performance.

Fuel cells provide efficient and low-emission energy conversion, yet their overall performance is limited by the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which remains the primary kinetic bottleneck [1]. The high cost and scarcity of platinum used in ORR electrocatalysts highlight the need for development of carbon supports that enable reduced Pt loadings while maintaining activity and stability. CO 2 -derived carbon (CO 2 -C) has emerged as a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based supports, offering tunable properties and a direct connection to carbon capture and utilization (CCU) strategies [2]. Understanding how such materials behave under conditions relevant to industrial CO 2 capture is therefore essential. To address this, CO 2 -derived carbon has been modified using representative flue-gas components such as SO 2 to evaluate the resulting effects on Pt/C electrocatalyst performance. CO 2 -C was synthesized by molten salt CO 2 capture and electrotransformation (MSCC-ET) using a eutectic Li 2 CO 3 -Na 2 CO 3 -K 2 CO 3 mixture. Two types of CO 2 -C were prepared: one exposed to SO 2 (1600 mg m -3 ) during synthesis and one synthesized without SO 2 , yielding a high surface area (HS) reference material. To examine the influence of surface chemistry on catalyst preparation, a portion of the SO 2 - processed CO 2 -C was further treated with H 2 O 2 to introduce additional oxygen-containing functional groups expected to enhance Pt deposition. The remaining SO 2 - processed CO 2 -C was used without pretreatment, and the HS CO 2 -C was also employed as synthesized. For electrocatalyst synthesis, polyol method was used and chloroplatinic acid hydrate was employed as the platinum precursor. Electrochemical performance was evaluated using rotating disk electrode (RDE) in 0.1M HClO 4 . Cyclic voltammetry was used to determine the electrochemically active surface area (EASA), followed by oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) polarization curves, recorded at multiple rotation rates to assess kinetic behavior and electron transfer pathways. Representative ORR polarization curves at 1600 rpm for all three electrocatalysts are shown in Figure 1. Physical characterization of the carbon supports and electrocatalysts was carried out using XRD, Raman spectroscopy, XPS, XRF and BET analysis. References: [1] E. Najafli, S. Ratso, Y. P. Ivanov, M. Gatalo, L. Pavko, C. R. Yörük, P. Walke, G. Divitini, N. Hodnik, I. Kruusenberg, ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2023,6, 5772–5780. [2] I. A. Novoselova, S. V. Kuleshov, A. A. Omel’chuk, Carbon Dioxide Utilization to Sustainable Energy and Fuels , Cham: Springer International Publishing. 2022, 113–136. Figure 1

• semanticscholar https://doi.org/10.1149/ma2026-01381951mtgabsfirst seen 2026-07-20 05:30:07