The Importance of Using Alkaline Ionomer Binders for Screening Electrocatalysts in Alkaline Electrolyte

Abstract

Many electrochemical studies exist using the acidic ionomer Nafion as a binder in the ink formulation when operating in high pH systems. However, Nafion acts as an ionic insulator for OH−, and for reactions such as the hydrogen oxidation reaction, the transport of OH− to the catalyst surface is of utmost importance when elucidating the performance of a catalyst. This work demonstrates that when using an alkaline polymer binder in the ink, the apparent activity of a commercially synthesized Pt/C catalyst is increased due to a lower diffusion resistance for the reaction. In order to obtain accurate values for kinetic data in alkaline media, the use of the acidic binder should be avoided.