Effect of the microwave thermal treatment condition on Pt–Fe/C alloy catalyst performance

Pt–Fe/C alloy catalyst for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) was prepared by a pulse-microwave assisted chemical reduction--pulse-microwave assisted H2 reducing treatment synthesis method. The elemental content of the as-prepared catalysts was tested by inductively coupled plasma (ICP). The microstructure and morphology of the as-prepared catalysts were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrocatalytic performances of the as-prepared catalysts were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and liner sweep voltammetry (LSV). The results indicate that the pulse-microwave assisted chemical reduction--pulse-microwave assisted H2 reducing treatment synthesis process is an efficient method for preparing alloy catalyst, and the microwave irradiation time and repeat times are of great important influence factors on the size and performance of Pt–Fe alloy catalyst. When the irradiation time was 14 s and repeat time was 14 s and 5 times, the Pt–Fe nanoparticles showed the best catalytic performance. The TEM results revealed that the average Pt–Fe nanoparticle size was 2.33 nm and the electrochemical measurements proven that the electrochemical surface area (ESA) of the catalyst was 51.79 m2 g−1.