The synthesis and characterization of bimetallic electrocatalyst was synthesized and evaluated as cathode in fuel cells to ascertain their performance. The main reactions that take place during the operation of fuel cell are the fuel oxidation reaction at the anodic compartment and the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathodic compartment. Although, Pt-based materials have been widely reported as catalysts in both processes, their high cost and low availability has been a strain on the commercialization of fuel cells.

The strategy employed in this work is to synthesize and compare the performance of nanoparticles based on Pt-Au (reduced platinum loading) supported on multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) materials using reverse microemulsion method (Pt-Au/MWCNT). To effectively compare the performance of the synthesized catalyst material, the catalytic activity of the electrocatalyst was compared to commercial electrocatalyst based on platinum on carbon vulcan (Pt/C).

MWCNT used as support material for the catalysts used in this study were synthesized using spray-pyrolysis. Different characterization techniques were used to determine physicochemical and electrochemical properties of the materials, such as particles size, thermal stability, morphology, composition, active area, catalytic activity, and thermodynamic parameters.

Assemblies were prepared using both the Diffuser Electrode Assembly (DEA), where the catalyst is dispersed onto the diffuser. In spite of the lower Pt loading in the Pt-Au/MWCNT catalyst, the fuel cell assembly results clearly shows that the Pt-Au/MWCNT assembly has approximately twice the power density of the Pt/C assembly, showing the remarkable catalytic ability of the Pt-Au/MWCNT catalyst (Figure 1), in addition to the lower catalyst cost enabled by reduced Pt loading.