Abstract
An equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation is employed to investigate the morphology changes inside the catalyst layer (CL) due to different sizes of Pt particles. The microstructure formed during the fabrication stage determines majority of the CL performance. Different sizes of the nano Pt particles are formed during the fabrication process. It is important to investigate the relation between the microstructure and the Pt cluster sizes. Different sizes (about 1, 2 and 3 nm) of Pt particles are considered in the present work. It was found that the small Pt particles (case of 1 nm) tend to merge to form a larger Pt cluster. This was not so in the case of lager Pt particles (2nm and 3nm). The microstructure formed at various Pt cluster sizes is shown to be quite different. Detailed information about the structure was obtained by carrying out structural analysis in view of radial distribution function (RDF)