Platinum Monolayer Fuel Cell Electrocatalysts

Tuning Surface Structure and Strain in Pd-Pt Core-Shell Nanocrystals for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction

Icosahedral, octahedral, and cubic Pd@Pt core-shell nanocrystals with two atomic Pt layers are epitaxially generated under thermodynamic control. Such icosahedra exhibit remarkably enhanced catalytic properties for oxygen reduction reaction compared to the octahedra and cubes as well as commercial Pt/C, which can be attributed to ligand and geometry effects, especially twin-induced strain effect that is revealed by geometrical phase analysis.

Thermodynamic assessment of the oxygen reduction activity in aqueous solutions

The hydrogen bonding of hydrophilic oxygen reduction intermediates to water has large effects on scaling relations and volcano plots.

Promoting the oxygen reduction reaction with gold at step/edge sites of Ni@AuPt core–shell nanoparticles

Presumably inert Au atoms localized at edge sites of Ni@AuPt core–shell nanoparticles effectively promote the electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction.

Energy and fuels from electrochemical interfaces

Advances in electrocatalysis at solid-liquid interfaces are vital for driving the technological innovations that are needed to deliver reliable, affordable and environmentally friendly energy. Here, we highlight the key achievements in the development of new materials for efficient hydrogen and oxygen production in electrolysers and, in reverse, their use in fuel cells. A key issue addressed here is the degree to which the fundamental understanding of the synergy between covalent and non-covalent interactions can form the basis for any predictive ability in tailor-making real-world catalysts. Common descriptors such as the substrate-hydroxide binding energy and the interactions in the double layer between hydroxide-oxides and H---OH are found to control individual parts of the hydrogen and oxygen electrochemistry that govern the efficiency of water-based energy conversion and storage systems. Links between aqueous- and organic-based environments are also established, encouraging the 'fuel cell' and 'battery' communities to move forward together.

Three-Dimensional Phosphorus-Doped Graphitic-C3N4 Self-Assembly with NH2-Functionalized Carbon Composite Materials for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is the major reaction that occurs at the cathodes of fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Development of inexpensive, active, and durable heteroatom doped carbon-based ORR catalysts can lead to significant cost reduction of these electrochemical energy devices, which therefore has recently attracted enormous research attentions. This work reports a three-dimensional porous composite (P-g-C₃N₄@NH₂-CB) for the highly efficient ORR catalyst. P-g-C₃N₄@NH₂-CB was prepared by mixing phosphorus-doped graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets (P-g-C₃N₄ NSs) with NH₂-functionalized carbon black (NH₂-CB) via a novel self-assembly approach. The NH₂-CB was rationally chosen as the spacer that enables the self-assembled with the P-g-C₃N₄ NSs driven by the electrostatic interaction. The intercalation of NH₂-CB induces the transformation of 2-D P-g-C₃N₄ NSs into a 3-D composites material of higher surface area, thereby exposing more ORR active sites. The P-g-C₃N₄@NH₂-CB exhibited a remarkable ORR activity with an electron transfer number of 3.83 and Tafel slope of 89 mV dec^-1 in alkaline electrolyte, which is comparable to the ORR performance on Pt/Vulcan XC-72. It is found that the incorporated P atoms as well as employing NH₂-CB spacer not only reduces the overpotential of ORR, but also enhances the ORR activity of carbon nitride-based materials, owing to the synergistic effect between P and N in tri-s-triazine rings of carbon nitrides and the optimum interaction between the oppositely charged P-g-C₃N₄ and NH₂-CB.

Platinum Cubic Nanoframes with Enhanced Catalytic Activity and Durability Toward Oxygen Reduction

We report the synthesis and electrocatalytic properties of Pt cubic nanoframes with ultrathin ridges less than 2 nm in thickness. The nanoframes were synthesized through site-selected deposition of Pt onto the corner and edge sites of Pd nanocubes, followed by selective removal of the Pd cores via chemical etching. The Br^- ions chemisorbed on the side faces of a Pd nanocube played a critical role in enabling the siteselected deposition. In addition, the kinetics of deposition and the diffusion of Pt adatoms was optimized by carefully controlling the injection rate of the Pt precursor and the reaction temperature, respectively, to obtain the frame-like structure. When benchmarked against a commercial Pt/C comprised of Pt particles 2-3 nm in size, the Pt frame/C catalyst exhibited not only enhanced mass activity toward oxygen reduction, but also substantially improved catalytic durability. In an accelerated durability test, the Pt frame/C catalyst showed a mass activity more than 6× greater than for the Pt/C reference after 20 000 cycles of repeated potential sweeping. This improvement can be largely attributed to the frame-like structure, which is unique in suppressing both the detachment and aggregation of catalytic particles owing to the significantly enhanced interaction with carbon support.

Coating Pt-Ni Octahedra with Ultrathin Pt Shells to Enhance the Durability without Compromising the Activity toward Oxygen Reduction

We describe a new strategy to enhance the catalytic durability of Pt-Ni octahedral nanocrystals in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) by conformally depositing an ultrathin Pt shell on the surface. The Pt-Ni octahedra were synthesized according to a protocol reported previously and then employed directly as seeds for the conformal deposition of ultrathin Pt shells by introducing a Pt precursor dropwise at 200 °C. The amount of Pt precursor was adjusted relative to the number of Pt-Ni octahedra involved to obtain Pt-Ni@Pt1.5L octahedra of 12 nm in edge length for the systematic evaluation of their chemical stability and catalytic durability compared to Pt-Ni octahedra. Specifically, we compared the elemental compositions of the octahedra before and after treatment with acetic and sulfuric acids. We also examined their electrocatalytic stability toward the ORR through an accelerated durability test by using a rotating disk electrode method. Even after treatment with sulfuric acid for 24 h, the Pt-Ni@Pt1.5L octahedra maintained their original Ni content, whereas 11 % of the Ni was lost from the Pt-Ni octahedra. After 10 000 cycles of ORR, the mass activity of the Pt-Ni octahedra decreased by 75 %, whereas the Pt-Ni@Pt1.5L octahedra only showed a 25 % reduction.

Tuning Surface Properties of Low Dimensional Materials via Strain Engineering

The promising and versatile applications of low dimensional materials are largely due to their surface properties, which along with their underlying electronic structures have been well studied. However, these materials may not be directly useful for applications requiring properties other than their natal ones. In recent years, strain has been shown to be an additionally useful handle to tune the physical and chemical properties of materials by changing their geometric and electronic structures. The strategies for producing strain are summarized. Then, the electronic structure of quasi-two dimensional layered non-metallic materials (e.g., graphene, MX2, BP, Ge nanosheets) under strain are discussed. Later, the strain effects on catalytic properties of metal-catalyst loaded with strain are focused on. Both experimental and computational perspectives for dealing with strained systems are covered. Finally, an outlook on engineering surface properties utilizing strain is provided.

Highly Porous Carbon Derived from MOF-5 as a Support of ORR Electrocatalysts for Fuel Cells

The development of highly competent electrocatalysts for the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at cathodes of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is extremely important for their long-term operation and wide applications. Herein, we present highly efficient ORR electrocatalysts based on Pt/Ni bimetallic nanoparticles dispersed on highly porous carbon obtained via pyrolysis of a metal-organic framework MOF-5. In comparison to the commercial Pt/C (20%), the electrocatalyst Pt-Ni/PC 950 (15:15%) in this study exhibits a pronounced positive shift of 90 mV in Eonset. In addition, it also demonstrates excellent long-term stability and durability during the 500-cycle continue-oxygen-supply (COS) accelerating durability tests (ADTs). The significantly improved activity and stability of Pt-Ni/PC 950 (15:15%) can be attributed to the Pt electron interaction with Ni and carbon support as has been proved in X-ray and microscopic analysis.

Noble-Metal Nanocrystals with Controlled Facets for Electrocatalysis

Noble-metal nanocrystals (NCs) show excellent catalytic performance for many important electrocatalysis reactions. The crystallographic properties of the facets by which the NCs are bound, closely associated with the shape of the NCs, have a profound influence on the electrocatalytic function of the NCs. To develop an efficient strategy for the synthesis of NCs with controlled facets as well as compositions, understanding of the growth mechanism of the NCs and their interaction with the chemical species involved in NC synthesis is quite important. Furthermore, understanding the facet-dependent catalytic properties of noble-metal NCs and the corresponding mechanisms for various electrocatalysis reactions will allow for the rational design of robust electrocatalysts. In this review, we summarize recently developed synthesis strategies for the preparation of mono- and bimetallic noble-metal NCs by classifying them by the type of facets through which they are enclosed and discuss the electrocatalytic applications of noble-metal NCs with controlled facets, especially for reactions associated with fuel-cell applications, such as the oxygen reduction reaction and fuel (methanol, ethanol, and formic acid) oxidation reactions.

Size-Controlled Synthesis of Sub-10 nm PtNi3 Alloy Nanoparticles and their Unusual Volcano-Shaped Size Effect on ORR Electrocatalysis

Dealloyed Pt bimetallic core-shell catalysts derived from low-Pt bimetallic alloy nanoparticles (e.g, PtNi3 ) have recently shown unprecedented activity and stability on the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) under realistic fuel cell conditions and become today's catalyst of choice for commercialization of automobile fuel cells. A critical step toward this breakthrough is to control their particle size below a critical value (≈10 nm) to suppress nanoporosity formation and hence reduce significant base metal (e.g., Ni) leaching under the corrosive ORR condition. Fine size control of the sub-10 nm PtNi3 nanoparticles and understanding their size dependent ORR electrocatalysis are crucial to further improve their ORR activity and stability yet still remain unexplored. A robust synthetic approach is presented here for size-controlled PtNi3 nanoparticles between 3 and 10 nm while keeping a constant particle composition and their size-selected growth mechanism is studied comprehensively. This enables us to address their size-dependent ORR activities and stabilities for the first time. Contrary to the previously established monotonic increase of ORR specific activity and stability with increasing particle size on Pt and Pt-rich bimetallic nanoparticles, the Pt-poor PtNi3 nanoparticles exhibit an unusual "volcano-shaped" size dependence, showing the highest ORR activity and stability at the particle sizes between 6 and 8 nm due to their highest Ni retention during long-term catalyst aging. The results of this study provide important practical guidelines for the size selection of the low Pt bimetallic ORR electrocatalysts with further improved durably high activity.

Statistics, damned statistics and nanoscience - using data science to meet the challenge of nanomaterial complexity

For many years dealing with the complexity of nanoscale materials, the polydispersivity of individual samples, and the persistent imperfection of individual nanostructures has been secondary to our search for novel properties and promising applications. For our science to translate into technology, however, we will inevitably need to deal with the issue of structural diversity and integrate this feature into the next generation of more realistic structure/property predictions. This is challenging in the field of nanoscience where atomic level precision is typically inaccessible (experimentally), but properties can depend on structural variations at the atomic scale. Fortunately there exists a range of reliable statistical methods that are entirely applicable to nanoscale materials; ideal for navigating and analysing enormous amount of information required to accurately describe realistic samples. Combined with advances in automation and information technology the field of data science can assist us in dealing with our big data, characterising our uncertainties, and more rapidly identifying useful structure/property relationships. Taking greater advantage of data-driven methods involves thinking differently about our research, but applied appropriately these methods can accelerate the discovery of nanomaterials that are optimised to make the transition from science to technology.

Ternary Platinum-Copper-Nickel Nanoparticles Anchored to Hierarchical Carbon Supports as Free-Standing Hydrogen Evolution Electrodes

Developing cost-effective and efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts for hydrogen production is of paramount importance to attain a sustainable energy future. Reported herein is a novel three-dimensional hierarchical architectured electrocatalyst, consisting of platinum-copper-nickel nanoparticles-decorated carbon nanofiber arrays, which are conformally assembled on carbon felt fabrics (PtCuNi/CNF@CF) by an ambient-pressure chemical vapor deposition coupled with a spontaneous galvanic replacement reaction. The free-standing PtCuNi/CNF@CF monolith exhibits high porosities, a well-defined geometry shape, outstanding electron conductivity, and a unique characteristic of localizing platinum-copper-nickel nanoparticles in the tips of carbon nanofibers. Such features render PtCuNi/CNF@CF as an ideal binder-free HER electrode for hydrogen production. Electrochemical measurements demonstrate that the PtCuNi/CNF@CF possesses superior intrinsic activity as well as mass-specific activity in comparison with the state-of-the-art Pt/C catalysts, both in acidic and alkaline solutions. With well-tuned composition of active nanoparticles, Pt42Cu57Ni1/CNF@CF showed excellent durability. The synthesis strategy reported in this work is likely to pave a new route for fabricating free-standing hierarchical electrodes for electrochemical devices.

Transition Metal Nitride Coated with Atomic Layers of Pt as a Low-Cost, Highly Stable Electrocatalyst for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

The main challenges to the commercial viability of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells are (i) the high cost associated with using large amounts of Pt in fuel cell cathodes to compensate for the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction, (ii) catalyst degradation, and (iii) carbon-support corrosion. To address these obstacles, our group has focused on robust, carbon-free transition metal nitride materials with low Pt content that exhibit tunable physical and catalytic properties. Here, we report on the high performance of a novel catalyst with low Pt content, prepared by placing several layers of Pt atoms on nanoparticles of titanium nickel binary nitride. For the ORR, the catalyst exhibited a more than 400% and 200% increase in mass activity and specific activity, respectively, compared with the commercial Pt/C catalyst. It also showed excellent stability/durability, experiencing only a slight performance loss after 10,000 potential cycles, while TEM results showed its structure had remained intact. The catalyst's outstanding performance may have resulted from the ultrahigh dispersion of Pt (several atomic layers coated on the nitride nanoparticles), and the excellent stability/durability may have been due to the good stability of nitride and synergetic effects between ultrathin Pt layer and the robust TiNiN support.

Tuning the surface structure of supported PtNixbimetallic electrocatalysts for the methanol electro-oxidation reaction

The structural investigation of bimetallic PtNi₂nanoparticles from polycrystalline to randomly mixed and core–shell structures induced by thermal annealing in different atmospheres.

Direct access to aggregation-free and small intermetallic nanoparticles in ordered, large-pore mesoporous carbon for an electrocatalyst

Small-sized intermetallic catalysts are synthesized by block copolymer-assisted evaporation-induced self-assembly, incorporating an agent that interacts strongly with metal.

Epitaxial Growth of Twinned Au-Pt Core-Shell Star-Shaped Decahedra as Highly Durable Electrocatalysts

Pt epitaxial layer on a nanoparticle with twinned structure and well-defined shape is highly desirable in order to achieve high performance in both catalytic activity and durability toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, it remains tremendously challenging to produce conformal, heterogeneous, twinned nanostructures due to the high internal strain and surface energy of Pt. In addition, these twinned nanostructures may be subject to degradation in highly corrosive ORR environments due to the high energy of twin boundary. Here we report the synthesis of Au-Pt core-shell star-shaped decahedra bounded mainly by {111} facets, in which Pt shells with controlled thickness epitaxially grew on Au cores with a 5-fold twinned structure. The incorporation of the amine group decreases the surface energy of Pt by strong adsorption and thus facilitates the epitaxial growth of Pt on Au core instead of the dendritic growth. In addition, Br(-) ion could largely stabilize the {111} facets of Pt, which prevent the formation of spherical nanoparticles. The Au-Pt core-shell decahedra with thicker Pt shell exhibited enhanced ORR properties in terms of activity and durability. Specifically, AuPt1.03 star-shaped decahedra achieved the highest mass activity (0.94 mA/μg(Pt)) and area activity (1.09 mA/cm(2)(Pt)), which is ∼6.7 and 5 times, respectively, as high as those of the commercial Pt/C (ETEK). Significantly, such star-shaped decahedra were highly stable with ∼10% loss in area activity and ∼20% loss in mass activity after 30,000 CV cycles in O2 saturated acid solution.

Multifunctional Ultrathin PdxCu(1-x) and Pt∼PdxCu(1-x) One-Dimensional Nanowire Motifs for Various Small Molecule Oxidation Reactions

Developing novel electrocatalysts for small molecule oxidation processes, including formic acid oxidation (FAOR), methanol oxidation reaction (MOR), and ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR), denoting the key anodic reactions for their respective fuel cell configurations, is a significant and relevant theme of recent efforts in the field. Herein, in this report, we demonstrated a concerted effort to couple and combine the benefits of small size, anisotropic morphology, and tunable chemical composition in order to devise a novel "family" of functional architectures. In particular, we have fabricated not only ultrathin 1-D Pd(1-x)Cu(x) alloys but also Pt-coated Pd(1-x)Cu(x) (i.e., Pt∼Pd(1-x)Cu(x); herein the ∼ indicates an intimate association, but not necessarily actual bond formation, between the inner bimetallic core and the Pt outer shell) core-shell hierarchical nanostructures with readily tunable chemical compositions by utilizing a facile, surfactant-based, wet chemical synthesis coupled with a Cu underpotential deposition technique. Our main finding is that our series of as-prepared nanowires are functionally flexible. More precisely, we demonstrate that various examples within this "family" of structural motifs can be tailored for exceptional activity with all 3 of these important electrocatalytic reactions. In particular, we note that our series of Pd(1-x)Cu(x) nanowires all exhibit enhanced FAOR activities as compared with not only analogous Pd ultrathin nanowires but also commercial Pt and Pd standards, with Pd9Cu representing the "optimal" composition. Moreover, our group of Pt∼Pd(1-x)Cu(x) nanowires consistently outperformed not only commercial Pt NPs but also ultrathin Pt nanowires by several fold orders of magnitude for both the MOR and EOR reactions in alkaline media. The variation of the MOR and EOR performance with the chemical composition of our ultrathin Pt∼Pd(1-x)Cu(x) nanowires was also discussed.