Study of Nanostructured Electrocatalysts Synthesized by the Platinum Magnetron-Ion-beam Sputtering onto Metallized Nanostructured Carbonaceous Support

Nanostructured electrocatalysts for hydrogen electrochemical systems with solid polymer electrolyte were synthesized by the platinum magnetron-ion-beam sputtering onto nanostructured carbonaceous support Vulcan XC-72 premetallized by the impregnation-reduction method. To be able to perform comparative analysis, a number of mono- and bimetallic catalyst samples was synthesized using impregnation-reduction, a traditional method. Thus prepared catalysts were examined by thermogravimetric method, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry. The electrodes prepared with the synthesized catalysts were tested in fuel cell and water electrolyzer with solid polymer electrolyte. This study confirmed the possibility of preparation of multicomponent catalysts with complicated structures (such as the core-shell structure) over nanostructured carbon support by magnetron sputtering and demonstrated the effectiveness of their performance as parts of electrochemical systems with solid polymer electrolyte. The effect of additional ion-beam processing of the Pt/C electrocatalysts on their efficiency is also studied.