ABSTRACT Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are promising energy conversion systems, but their widespread adoption is hindered by the sluggish kinetics and high cost of platinum‐based catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). A catalyst composed of ultrasmall Platinum (Pt) nanoparticles supported on nitrogen‐doped carbon (NC) containing atomically dispersed ruthenium (Ru) was synthesized via a plasma engineering method. Plasma engineering enabled the simultaneous dispersion of Pt and incorporation of Ru into the nitrogen‐doped carbon framework. The resulting PtRu 0.113 /NC catalyst exhibited a high half‐wave potential of 0.877 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and a mass activity of 153.5 A g Pt −1 at 0.9 V, representing a 61 mV increase and 2.5 times enhancement compared to commercial Pt/C. In single‐cell PEMFC tests under H 2 /air conditions, PtRu 0.113 /NC MEA showed a current density of 0.15 A cm −2 at 0.8 V, approximately three times higher than that of the Pt/C‐based cell. Furthermore, durability was confirmed through an accelerated stress test (AST) over 30,000 cycles, during which the electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) was largely preserved. Structural analysis by transmission electron microscopy and x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed strong electronic coupling between Pt and atomically dispersed Ru, which modulated the Pt d‐band center and optimized *OH binding energy.
Lee et al. (Thu,) studied this question.