Enhanced activity and durability of high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells enabled by ionic liquid-modified Pt-Ni nanochains

Abstract

The performance of high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) is severely limited by the poisoning effect and low oxygen solubility of the phosphoric acid (PA) electrolyte. To address this, we report an innovative catalyst architecture consisting of one-dimensional hollow PtNi nanochains coated with a functional ionic liquid (IL), termed PtNi@IL/C. This design creates a multifunctional interface that demonstrates exceptional PA tolerance, achieving an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) half-wave potential of 0.840 V in a PA-containing electrolyte, which is 90 mV higher than commercial Pt/C.