Hierarchical Porous Platinum Catalyst Supported on Honeycomb-Like Nitrogen-Doped Carbon for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reaction Performance

It exhibits exceptional ORR performance: a half-wave potential of 0.901 V (41 mV higher than that of commercial Pt/C), a mass activity 15.3 times that of Pt/C at 0.9 V, and significantly improved durability (a half-wave potential decay of 25 mV vs. 80 mV after 10,000 accelerated durability tests (ADT)).

Mechanistic investigations reveal that the superior performance originates from the synergistic effects of the 3D porous structure, ultrafine Pt nanoparticles with strong metal-support interactions, and in-situ formed Co-Nₓ moieties. Post-ADT characterizations confirm excellent structural integrity, with Pt/HNC-400 retaining 87.4% of its initial electrochemically active surface area (102.7 m2 g-1). This study proposes a versatile strategy integrating morphological engineering, particle size control, and heteroatom doping, offering new insights for the development of high-performance ORR catalysts.