Fuel cells have become increasingly important in recent years because of their high energy efficiency and low environmental impact. However, key challenges remain in the widespread adoption of fuel-cell vehicles, including reducing Pt usage in catalysts and improving their durability. In this study, a high-performance Pt@carbon-dot-film core-shell catalyst was successfully synthesized using a nonequilibrium reaction field, i.e., solution plasma (SP) process, by adjusting the electrolyte pH. Four pH solutions (pH = 4.4, 7, 8, and 11) were employed as the discharge liquid environment for the SP process. The catalyst synthesized in the pH = 8 solution exhibited a mass activity of approximately 500 mA mg-1, which was twice as high as that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst (256 mA mg-1) with the same loading amount. The onset and half-wave potentials were 0.99 and 0.89 V, respectively, both of which exceeded those of commercial Pt/C catalysts (0.95 and 0.86 V, respectively). Furthermore, the enhanced catalytic performance corresponded to the Pt/C bonding between Pt and the carbon shell generated during the SP process.
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