对电极材料对非贵金属电催化剂耐久性评价的影响

质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFCs)环境友好,具有高的能量转换效率,已受到了广泛的关注.目前,铂基电催化剂广泛使用在 PEMFCs中,但铂的储量有限,活性低,耐久性差,成本高,急需开发高性能的非贵金属电催化剂替代铂基电催化剂.非贵金属电催化剂的电化学表征基本上都沿用了铂基电催化剂的评价体系和方法,不一定适用于非贵金属电催化剂的表征.
　　本文选用铂和石墨为对电极考察其对非贵金属电催化剂在酸性电解质中耐久性测试的影响.当使用铂对电极时,商业 Pt/C电催化剂的氧还原(ORR)活性随着耐久性测试圈数的增加而降低,而非贵金属电催化剂的氧还原活性在耐久性测试过程中的变化规律与商业 Pt/C不同,呈现先降低,后升高的规律.耐久性测试前后的透射电镜(TEM)分析表明非贵金属电催化剂经过耐久性测试后,在电催化剂表面生长了铂纳米颗粒.高分辨透射电镜(HRTEM)和能量色散 X射线光谱(EDX)进一步证明以铂为对电极的三电极体系,在进行非贵金属电催化剂耐久性测试的过程中,非贵金属电催化剂表面生长了铂纳米颗粒,使得非贵金属电催化剂的 ORR活性在耐久性测试后得到显著提高.耐久性测试前后,非贵金属电催化剂氧还原过程的电子转移数由3.7变为4.0,再次证明了耐久性测试过程中铂颗粒的生成.在三电极电化学体系中,当工作电极发生阴极反应时,对电极为阳极反应,反之亦然,即在工作电极上发生的任何电化学过程,都会在对电极上完成相反的电化学过程.在循环电位扫描过程中,当铂对电极的电压高于1.0 V (vs RHE)时,开始发生铂的溶解现象,并且当电压高于1.2 V (vs RHE)时,铂的溶解量会急剧增加,部分溶解的铂会扩散到工作电极附近,并在工作电极的非贵金属电催化剂表面发生沉积作用.随着扫描圈数的增加,沉积的铂纳米颗粒的数量增加,颗粒变大,从而使非贵金属电催化剂的表观 ORR活性显著提高.该现象使得非贵金属电催化剂在酸性电解质中无法表现出其真实的耐久性.当选用石墨棒为对电极材料时,非贵金属电催化剂在酸性电解质中的 ORR活性不会受到对电极材料的影响.
　　通过考察对电极材料对非贵金属电催化剂在酸性电解质中耐久性能的影响,可以得出结论,即对非贵金属电催化剂在酸性电解质中的耐久性测试中,不宜使用铂对电极,应该使用石墨为对电极材料,以防止对电极材料干扰耐久性测试.

Influence of counter electrode material during accelerated durability test of non-precious metal electrocatalysts in acidic medium

Significant progress has been made in the development of non‐precious metal electrocatalysts (NPMEs) during the past decade. Correspondingly, there is an urgent demand for an appropriate measurement method to be established for the reliable evaluation of NPMEs. In this study, platinum and graphite counter electrodes were used to investigate the impact of counter electrode material on the accelerated durability testing (ADT) of NPMEs in acidic medium. Platinum used as the coun‐ter electrode in a traditional three‐electrode electrochemical cell was found to dissolve in acidic medium and re‐deposit on NPME coated on the working electrode during ADT. Such re‐deposition causes the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance of NPMEs to remarkably improve, and thus will seriously mislead our judgment of NPMEs if we are unaware of it. The phenomenon can be avoided using a graphite counter electrode.