Preparation and catalytic performance of Pt supported on Nafion® functionalized carbon nanotubes

Newly Pt loaded catalysts were synthesized by lyophilization method with Nafion® modified carbon nanotube as support (noted as N-CNT). The newly introduced Nafion® could tightly anchor and disperse Pt nanoparticles and efficiently increase the number of ion channels at the same time. Various material characterization methods were adopted to illustrate the properties of as-synthesized catalysts. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of catalyst reveal that Pt nanoparticles with the diameter of 2–3 nm are well crystallized and uniformly deposited on N-CNT surface. In cyclic voltammetry (CV) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) measurements, Pt loaded N-CNT showed much higher catalytic activity as compared to the counterpart with untreated CNT as support. The optimum performance was achieved when the weight ratio of CNT to Nafion® is 9:1. Moreover, Pt loaded N-CNT showed a slower decomposition rate in electrochemically accelerated durability test (ADT). All these advantages made it a potential electro-catalyst for fuel-cell applications.