Fuel Cell Catalyst Layers with Platinum Nanoparticles Synthesized by Sputtering onto Liquid Substrates

Platinum (Pt) nanoparticles are widely used as catalysts in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. In recent decades, sputter deposition onto liquid substrates has emerged as a potential alternative for nanoparticle synthesis, offering a synthesis process free of contaminant oxygen, capping agents, and chemical precursors. Here, we present a method for the synthesis of supported nanoparticles based on magnetron sputtering onto liquid poly­(ethylene glycol) (PEG) combined with a heat-treatment step for attachment of nanoparticles to a carbon support. Transmission electron microscopy imaging reveals Pt nanoparticle growth during the heat-treatment process, facilitated by the carbon support and the reducing properties of PEG. Following the heat treatment, a bimodal size distribution of Pt nanoparticles is observed, with sizes of 2.5 ± 0.8 and 6.7 ± 1.8 nm, compared to 1.8 ± 0.4 nm after sputtering. Synthesized Pt nanoparticles display excellent specific and mass activities for the oxygen reduction reaction, with 1.75 mA/cm²_Pt and 0.27 A/mg_Pt respectively, measured at 0.9 V vs the reversible hydrogen electrode. The specific activities reported herein outperform literature values of commercial Pt/C catalysts with similar loading and are on par with values of bulk Pt and mass-selected nanoparticles of comparable size. Also, the mass activities agree well with the literature values. The results provide new insights into the growth processes of SoL-synthesized carbon-supported Pt catalyst nanoparticles, and most crucially, the high performance of the synthesized catalyst layers, along with the possibility of nanoparticle growth through a straightforward heat-treatment step at relatively low temperatures, offer a scalable new approach for producing fuel cell catalysts with more efficient material utilization and new material combinations.