Porous PtAg Nanowires: A Highly Active Platinum Loading Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Lowering the cost of platinum (Pt)-based oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts is a significant goal for the commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). One of the effective strategies is reducing Pt loading and enhancing Pt utilization by creating structures with accessible surfaces. In this work, we demonstrate the development of a highly active Pt loading electrocatalyst for ORR through the construction of a one-dimensional porous PtAg nanostructure. Varying the diameter of nanowires (NWs) leads to an increased ORR mass activity, reaching 0.98 A mgPt–1 for a smaller diameter of porous PtAg NWs (25 nm), which is 5-fold higher than Pt/C and 1.5-fold improvement than that of porous PtAg NW with a larger diameter of 50 nm. Furthermore, in-situ single-cell testing is also performed to obtain insights into catalytic activities and fuel cell performance