Phthalocyanine-Derived Platform toward Integrated Ultralow-Platinum Fuel Cell Catalysts.

Zhan, Changhong; Shi, Tong; Zhu, Yuanmin; Wang, Cao; Hu, Zhiwei; Huang, Wei-Hsiang; Pao, Chih-Wen; Cao, Liang et al. · Nano Lett · 2026

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Developing cost-effective proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is imperative yet challenging with respect to the performance of Pt-based membrane electrode assembly (MEA) when using an ultralow Pt loading. Here, we report a hybrid fuel cell catalyst comprising a Pt-skin Pt<sub>3</sub>Mn intermetallic on a manganese-nitrogen-carbon (Mn-N-C) support. The successful synthesis of this hybrid catalyst relies on the rational use of metal phthalocyanine molecules that serve as a chemical source for the synthesis of Pt<sub>3</sub>Mn and the construction of Mn-N-C. Pt<sub>3</sub>Mn/Mn-N-C demonstrates high mass activity (1.22 A mg<sub>Pt</sub><sup>-1</sup>) with an ultralow Pt loading of 0.025 mg<sub>Pt</sub> cm<sup>-2</sup> and retains 76.3% of its mass activity after 30000-cycle accelerated stress tests (ASTs). Mechanistic investigations and theoretical calculations imply that the synergistic contribution of Mn-N-C networks and structurally stable Pt-skin Pt<sub>3</sub>Mn hybrid catalysts with enhanced Mn specific anchoring is responsible for achieving high activity and durability in fuel cells.