Improved atomic layer deposition method enhances the unit catalytic activity of platinum catalyst in oxygen reduction reaction

The construction of uniformly dispersed and low-loading platinum-containing catalysts is a challenging task to promote the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) using highly efficient and relatively low-cost catalysts. Here, we propose a strategy to prepare active Pt catalysts with cluster structures by a simplified atomic layer deposition (ALD) method that does not require the incorporation of equipment such as a fluidized bed reactor to control the distribution of carriers in the reaction chamber. Unlike the conventional ALD methods, the deposition of precious metal Pt on carbon aerogel (CA) does not require O 3 or O 2 to participate in all reactions, and the platinum content is directly controlled by the ALD cycle method, and a series of Pt@CA materials have successfully synthesized catalysts with different platinum content by adjusting the pulse time, purge time and cycle times. Compared with commercial platinum carbon catalysts, these Pt@CA catalysts synthesized by the simplified ALD method have higher electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) and unit mass activity (MA) due to their excellent uniformity, dispersion, and high utilization of Pt active sites. This study, which focuses on atomic-scale strategies for Pt-containing materials, marks a step towards modern high-performance catalysts for future fuel cell technologies.