Platinum-Based Alloy and Ionic Liquid Composites Dispersed on Carbon Black As a Synergistic Catalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Catalysts for oxygen reduction are of great interest in the field of renewable energy technology such as fuel cell, which can provide the power for future electric vehicles. Herein, we report a one-pot synthesis of composite material consisting of platinum(Pt)-based alloy and ionic liquid dispersed on carbon black (SuperP) in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide through using one atmospheric pressure plasma. The PtNi-NPs with the size of 2–3 nm were stably and uniformly hybridized on the surface of carbon blacks, which were also covered with ionic liquid layer. The incorporation of PtNi alloy with a hydrophobic and protic ionic liquid layer shows good electrocatalytic activity due to the high O₂ solubility of the ionic liquid, resulting in high frequency and high mass activity of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which is better than that of commercial Pt/C catalysts. The PtNiRu-ionic liquid/carbon black catalyst (Figure 1) also shows better stability than the commercial Pt/C under the same ORR condition as seen in Figure 2. The results prove that the Pt-based alloy and ionic liquid composites dispersed on carbon black push the ORR towards completion and can indeed be one of promising candidates for many electrochemical catalytic applications.