There have been extensive efforts to develop competitive electrocatalysts using carbon black (CB) supports for high-performance proton-exchange membrane fuel cells with less usage of Pt. Herein, we propose a very promising electrocatalyst architecture based on the three-dimensional Pt/indium tin oxide (ITO)/CB support structure which was enabled by a nonconventional deposition process ensuring very uniform impregnation of Pt and ITO nanoparticles into the CB network. The unusual scales of the Pt (∼1.9 nm) and ITO (∼5.6 nm) nanoparticles were directly related to unexpectedly better performance of the electrocatalytic activities. As a highlight, the electrochemical surface area of the electrocatalyst was maintained very well after the 3000 cycle-accelerated durability evaluation by demonstrating an excellent retention of ∼74.9%. Particularly, the CO tolerance exhibited a low value of ∼0.68 V as the absorption current peak, compared to ∼0.79 V for a commercial Pt/CB catalyst containing twice more Pt.

We synthesize, in situ, W-x wt% Cu (x = 5, 10, and 20 wt%) composite nanoparticles using inductively coupled radio-frequency (RF) thermal plasma. In the RF thermal plasma process, the W-x wt% Cu composite nanoparticles are synthesized by hydrogen reduction of tungsten trioxide (WO3) and cupric oxide (CuO). The synthesized W and Cu nanoparticles are effectively reduced to W and Cu, and the W-Cu nanoparticles are uniformly distributed bimetallic (or composite) nanoparticles.

An in situ synthesis technique of tungsten carbide on carbon black support via cathodic arc deposition is introduced to satisfy both the performance-efficiency and long-term durability of Pt-based electrocatalysts.