Formic Acid Oxidation at Ru@Pt Core-Shell Nanoparticles

Trimetallic Ru@AuPt core-shell nanostructures: The effect of microstrain on CO adsorption and electrocatalytic activity of formic acid oxidation

It is desirable to unravel the correlation between the geometric and electronic structures and the activity and further prepare high-performance electrocatalysts. Here in this paper, trimetallic Ru@Au-Pt core-shell nanoparticles were prepared by sequential ethanol reduction method, and further subject to characterization of X-ray diffraction, high angle annular dark field transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemical CO stripping. Further analysis based on Williamson-Hall method revealed that the Au/Pt atomic ratio and shell thickness result in apparent variation of micro-strain and CO binding energy of Ru@AuPt nanoparticles, where the CO oxidation peak potential showed an inverted volcano-shape dependence on the microstrain of the metal nanoparticles while the catalytic activity towards electrooxidation of formic acid is linearly dependent on the micro-strain. The best Ru@Au-Pt catalyst delivers a specific activity of 4.14 mA cm^-2, which is 52 times that of Pt/C, respectively. This study indicated that the microstrain and stacking fault of metal nanoparticles might be a good descriptor for the catalytic activity and may shed light the rational design, synthesis and surface engineering towards the high-performance electrocatalyst.

A novel IrNi@PdIr/C core-shell electrocatalyst with enhanced activity and durability for the hydrogen oxidation reaction in alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cells

Herein, a novel non-platinum core-shell catalyst, namely, IrNi@PdIr/C was prepared via a galvanic replacement reaction; it exhibits enhanced hydrogen oxidation activity and excellent stability under alkaline conditions. Electrochemical experiments demonstrated that the mass and specific activities at 50 mV of IrNi@PdIr/C are 2.1 and 2.2 times that of commercial Pt/C in 0.1 M KOH at 298 K, respectively. Moreover, accelerated degradation tests have shown that the electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) of IrNi@PdIr/C reduces by only 5.1%, which is almost 4 times less than that of commercial Pt/C and the mass activity at 50 mV of IrNi@PdIr/C after 2000 potential cycles is still 1.8 times higher than that of aged Pt/C. XRD and XPS analysis suggest that the enhanced HOR activity is attributed to the weakening of the hydrogen binding to the PdIr overlayers induced by the IrNi core. The better stability to potential cycling can be associated with the PdIr shell, which inhibits oxide formation. These results suggest that IrNi@PdIr/C is a promising non-platinum anode catalyst for alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cells.

Nanoengineered Ircore@Ptshell Nanoparticles with Controlled Pt Shell Coverages for Direct Methanol Electro-Oxidation

The design and application of bimetallic alloy nanoparticles (NPs) for electrocatalytic applications are challenged by the need to clearly identify and understand the individual effect of each component. In the present work, the focus has been on PtIr NPs, with alloyed NPs being previously shown to be active toward the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR), but for which the mode of action of the Ir component remains uncertain. We have therefore nanoengineered a family of Ir_core@Pt_shell NPs, using a modified polyol method, to control the Pt shell coverage (up to 2 monolayers) and thus to allow the separation of the bifunctional and electronic effects of Ir on the Pt activity. It is shown that the Ir core size and crystallinity do not change with the deposition of the Pt shell, as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. CO stripping and hydrogen underpotential deposition/removal were used for the first time to determine the surface composition of the Ir_core@Pt_shell NPs. It is shown that the Ir_core enhances the MOR activity of the Pt_shell primarily through the bifunctional effect, with an optimum Pt coverage of 0.4 of a monolayer. At 60 °C, an additional electronic effect of Ir on Pt can be discerned, causing an inhibition in the MOR rate by weakening the adsorption of methanol on the Pt_shell, thus helping to remove the adsorbed CO intermediate from the shell surface.