Researchers at POSTECH have developed real fuel cell catalysts for direct formic acid fuel cells (DF- AFCs). Professor Jinwoo Lee of the Department of Ch- emical Engineering successfully developed platinum-based intermetallic nano crystals on a mesoporous carbon-type support with highly ordered pores. These intermetallic Platinum-lead nanoparticles overcame the limitation associated with platinum and lead catalysts, which are severely poisoned by absorbed CO, formed as a reaction intermediate via dehydration pathway. Using the “one pot” method, the research team shortened the synthetic process time and eliminated multiple tedious fabrication steps.
The paper, titled “One-Pot Synthesis of Intermetallic Electrocatalysts in Ordered, Large-PoreMesoporous Carbon/Silica toward Formic Acid Oxidation” was published in the online edition of ACS NANO on Jul. 16.