3-D Tracking and Visualization of Hundreds of Pt-Co Fuel Cell Nanocatalysts During Electrochemical Aging

TL;DR

This study introduces a 3-D electron tomography technique to track and analyze the morphological changes of Pt-Co nanocatalysts during electrochemical aging, revealing coalescence as a key degradation mechanism affecting fuel cell performance.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel 3-D electron tomography method that enables detailed tracking of nanocatalyst particles before and after aging, linking morphological changes to performance loss.

Findings

Nanoparticle coalescence causes catalyst degradation.

Migration of particles on support leads to coarsening.

Minimizing particle movement could slow degradation.

Abstract

We present an electron tomography method that allows for the identification of hundreds of electrocatalyst nanoparticles with one-to-one correspondence before and after electrochemical aging. This method allows us to track, in three-dimensions (3-D), the trajectories and morphologies of each Pt-Co nanocatalyst on a fuel cell carbon support. The use of atomic-scale electron energy loss spectroscopic imaging enables the correlation of performance degradation of the catalyst with changes in particle/inter-particle morphologies, particle-support interactions and the near-surface chemical composition. We found that, aging of the catalysts under normal fuel cell operating conditions (potential scans from +0.6 V to +1.0 V for 30,000 cycles) gives rise to coarsening of the nanoparticles, mainly through coalescence, which in turn leads to the loss of performance. The observed coalescence events were found to be the result of nanoparticle migration on the carbon support during potential cycling. This method provides detailed insights into how nanocatalyst degradation occurs in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), and suggests that minimization of particle movement can potentially slow down the coarsening of the particles, and the corresponding performance degradation.