Fe³⁺ triggered micellization for the kilogram-scale synthesis of surface-engineered Pt/C catalyst with improved oxygen reduction performance

The supported nano-catalysts represented by platinum-carbon (Pt/C) are widely used with many advantages such as high surface area, high activity and cost-effective. Pt/C is one of the most important catalysts in modern industry and plays an indispensable role as the cathode for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) applications. However, due to the scarcity of noble metal, the large-scale preparation of novel Pt/C catalysts with higher catalytic activity has become a hot topic of research in both academia and industry. In this study, we develop an Fe³⁺ triggered micellization process to successfully obtain novel surface-engineered Pt/C catalyst with better oxygen reduction performance for fuel cell applications. This method has been scaled up and verified through pilot experiments, producing more than one kilogram of catalysts per batch with promising commercial values. This work will provide new ideas for the synthesis-route design and practical production of advanced nano-catalysts.