Although nanoporous carbons are ubiquitous materials that are used in many clean energy and environmental applications, most are in powder form, thus requiring binders to hold particles together. This results in uncontrolled and complex pathways between particles, potentially exacerbating mass transport issues. To overcome these problems, we have developed an unprecedented binderless, self-supported, nanoporous carbon scaffold (NCS) with tunable and monodisperse pores (5–100+ nm), high surface area (ca. 200–575 m² g⁻¹), and 3-dimensional scalability (1–150+ cm², 1–1000 μm thickness). Here, it is shown that NCS85 membranes (85 nm pores) are particularly promising as a host for the homogeneous and efficient 3-D atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Pt nanoparticles, due to the facile penetration of gas phase Pt precursor throughout the homogeneous, low tortuosity internal structure. Furthermore, the high density of surface defects of the as-synthesized NCS promotes uniform Pt nucleation with minimal agglomeration. These advantageous features are key to the rapid oxygen reduction kinetics observed under polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell MEA testing conditions. Cells constructed with an optimal ALD Pt loading of 30 cycles are shown to exhibit a specific activity of ≥0.4 mA cm⁻²_Pt which is exemplary when compared to two commercial catalyst layers with comparable Pt mass loadings and tested under the same conditions. Furthermore, a maximum power density of 1230 mW cm⁻² (IR-corrected) is obtained, with the limiting current densities approaching a very respectable 3 A cm⁻².

中文翻译：

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可扩展的纳米多孔碳膜允许 Pt 的视线 3D 原子层沉积：迈向 PEM 燃料电池的新一代催化剂层

尽管纳米多孔碳是广泛用于许多清洁能源和环境应用的材料，但大多数都是粉末形式，因此需要粘合剂将颗粒固定在一起。这导致粒子之间不受控制且复杂的路径，可能会加剧质量传输问题。为了克服这些问题，我们开发了一种前所未有的无粘合剂、自支撑、纳米多孔碳支架 (NCS)，具有可调节的单分散孔 (5–100+ nm)、高表面积 ( ca. 200–575 m ² g ^-1 ) , 和 3 维可扩展性 (1–150+ cm ², 1–1000 μm 厚度）。在这里，表明 NCS85 膜（85 nm 孔）特别有希望作为 Pt 纳米粒子的均质和高效的 3-D 原子层沉积（ALD）的主体，因为气相 Pt 前体可以轻松渗透到整个均质中。 , 低曲折的内部结构。此外，合成后的 NCS 的高密度表面缺陷促进了均匀的 Pt 成核，并且团聚最小。这些有利特征是在聚合物电解质膜 (PEM) 燃料电池 MEA 测试条件下观察到的快速氧还原动力学的关键。用 30 个循环的最佳 ALD Pt 负载构建的细胞显示出≥0.4 mA cm ^-2 _Pt的比活性与具有可比 Pt 质量负载并在相同条件下测试的两个商业催化剂层相比，这是示例性的。此外，获得了 1230 mW cm ^-2（IR 校正）的最大功率密度，极限电流密度接近非常可观的 3 A cm ^-2。