Ligand carbonization in-situ derived ultrathin carbon shells enable high-temperature confinement synthesis of PtCo alloy catalysts for high-efficiency fuel cells

In this work, we report the high-temperature confinement synthesis of N-doped graphitic carbon shells encapsulated PtCo nanoparticles embedded into porous Ketjenblack (KB) carbon architectures (PtCo@NGCS/KB) for fuel cells by a facile ligand carbonization strategy. [Display omitted] •The confinement synthesis of PtCo@NGCS/KB-800 is achieved by ligand carbonization.•Carbon shell reconstruction effectively improves the accessibility of surface sites.•PtCo@NGCS/KB-800 exhibits more outstanding ORR performance than commercial Pt/C.•PtCo and NGCS synergically account for the enhanced ORR performance. High-temperature reduction technology significantly improves the alloying process but inevitably causes the sintering of metal. Herein, we report the high-temperature confinement synthesis of PtCo nanoparticles encapsulated with N-doped graphitic carbon shells (NGCS) in porous Ketjenblack (KB) carbon architectures (PtCo@NGCS/KB) for fuel cells via ligand carbonization strategy. The optimal PtCo@NGCS/KB-800 exhibits outstanding mass and specific activities (840.2 mA/mgPt and 0.94 mA/cm2, respectively) for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and possesses excellent stability with a smaller peak power density loss rate of 7.1 % than commercial benchmark Pt/C (23.7 %) after the accelerated durability test (ADT) in practical H2/air fuel cells. Experimental and theoretical investigations reveal that carbon shell reconstruction improves the accessibility of surface sites, and PtCo and NGCS synergically promote the enhancement of ORR performance. The NGCS encapsulation significantly reduces the energy level of the d-band center of Pt, promotes the desorption of intermediates, and lowers the reaction barrier for efficient ORR.