How Effective Is Graphitization of Biomasses for the Carbon Stability of Pt/C ORR Catalysts?
, Nina Bengen 1,†, Julia Müller-Hülstede 1, Olayinka Ahmed Ibitowa 2, Peter Wagner 1 and Michael Wark 2Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript presents a well-conducted study on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalytic performance of Pt nanoparticles with biomass-based carbon support.
The introduction sets the context for the work and the motivation for studying the ORR on this particular type of electrode clearly. The use of detailed experimental methods and characterization techniques, which are described in sufficient detail, provides strong evidence for their conclusions. The results are presented in a clear and organized manner too. Overall, I think the paper presents the study clearly and is easy to follow, with a logical structure.
I think there are a few minor points that could be improved for the manuscript: first, it would be useful to discuss more on the potential applications or implications of their findings for this biomass-based carbon support catalysts in fuel cell systems instead of only demonstrating the comparison to commercial reference electrode materials. Second, It would also be helpful to include more discussion of the uncertainties associated with the measurements, such as including error bars in figure 3 and figure 7.
Overall, I recommend this paper for publication after minor revisions. The results and discussion will be of interest to researchers in the field of fuel cell technology.
Author Response
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Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The manuscript “How effective is graphitization of biomasses for the carbon stability of Pt/C ORR catalysts?” reports a detailed investigation of different experimental conditions for thermal treatment of sawdust and their influence on the electrocatalytic activity and stability of Pt/C towards the ORR. Although authors didn’t provide detailed investigation and discussion about the observation that thermal treatment in 50 % H2 gives the most active and stable catalyst (but still not as good as commercial Pt/C), they noted this as an important direction for further investigation.
Except for minor text editing issues (physical quantities not in italic), the paper can be published in its present form.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
The article "How effective is graphitization of biomasses for the carbon stability of Pt/C ORR catalysts?" is devoted to the synthesis of new carbon carriers based on activated sawdust and the production of Pt/C catalysts based on them. The structure of the obtained materials was studied in detail by BET, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, TEM, ICP-MS, and the activity was studied by CV and LSV. This study is of undoubted interest, since the properties of the carbon support significantly affect the activity and stability of Pt/C catalysts. In addition, the use of renewable raw materials for the production of fuel cell components is extremely important. On the other hand, the catalysts obtained in this study are inferior to the commercial analog in terms of activity and stability. Nevertheless, the article can be recommended for publication after minor revisions.
The mass fraction of Pt in the commercial material (31.8%) is significantly lower than the manufacturer's data (40%). It is necessary to verify this result by an independent method, for example, thermogravimetry, since the content of platinum in the samples is extremely important, since it directly affects the mass activity of the catalyst.
It is important to note that the carbon structure affects the characteristics of the catalytic layer, so it is very important to evaluate the activity of the obtained catalysts in MEA.
Author Response
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