Bead-Like Pt/C-Ionomer Porous Nanofibrous Networks Toward Advanced Electrochemical Reaction Management for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

Efficient management for electrochemical reactions within Pt/C electrodes, specifically the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and methanol oxidation reactions (MOR), is critical to the performance and long-life stability of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). Optimizing the hierarchical macro/mesoscale structures of Pt/C electrodes plays a decisive role in regulating the mass transport pathways and electrochemical reactions. In this work, bead-like Pt/C-ionomer hybrid porous nanofibrous networks are constructed via electrospinning. Ascribing to the hierarchical architecture consisting of continuous nanofibers and bead-like Pt/C-ionomer fibrous networks, the hybrid porous nanofibrous electrode exhibits a 55% increase in maximum mass power density in comparison to the conventional Pt/C electrode. Such enhancement is attributed to excellent ORR activity enabled by efficient triple-phase reaction regions, coupled with superior MOR tolerance resulting from restricted methanol transport from the hybrid porous nanofibrous electrode to triple-phase reaction regions.