Kinetic Modeling of COad Monolayer Oxidation on Carbon-Supported Platinum Nanoparticles

Electrochemical CO Oxidation at Platinum on Carbon Studied through Analysis of Anomalous in Situ IR Spectra

The oxidation of adsorbed CO is a key reaction in electrocatalysis. It has been studied extensively on both extended model surfaces and on nanoparticles; however, correlation between the two is far from simple. Molecular insight into the reaction is often provided using in situ IR spectroscopy; however, practical challenges mean in situ studies on nanoparticles have yet to provide the same level of detail as those on model surfaces. Here we use a new approach to in situ IR spectroscopy to study the mechanism of CO adlayer oxidation on a commercial carbon-supported Pt catalyst. We observe bipolar IR absorption bands but develop a simple model to enable fitting. Quantitative analysis of band behavior during the oxidation prepeak using the model agrees well with previous analysis based on conventional absorption bands. A second linear CO band is observed during the main oxidation region and is assigned to the distinct contribution of CO on step as opposed to terrace sites. Analysis of the step and terrace CO bands during oxidation shows that oxidation begins on the terraces of the nanoparticles before CO on steps is removed. Further correlation of this behavior with the current shows that step CO is only lost in the first of the two main oxidation peaks.

Influence of sp(3)-sp(2) Carbon Nanodomains on Metal/Support Interaction, Catalyst Durability, and Catalytic Activity for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

In this work, platinum nanoparticles were impregnated by two different techniques, namely the carbonyl chemical route and photodeposition, onto systematically surface-modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes. The different interactions between platinum nanoparticles with sp(2)-sp(3) carbon nanodomains were investigated. The oxidation of an adsorbed monolayer of carbon monoxide, used to probe electronic catalytic modification, suggests a selective nucleation of platinum nanoparticles onto sp(2) carbon nanodomains when photodeposition synthesis is carried out. XPS attests the catalytic center electronic modification obtained by photodeposition. DFT calculations were used to determine the interaction energy of a Pt cluster with sp(2) and sp(3) carbon surfaces as well as with oxidized ones. The interaction energy and electronic structure of the platinum cluster presents dramatic changes as a function of the support surface chemistry, which also modifies its catalytic properties evaluated by the interaction with CO. The interaction energy was calculated to be 8-fold higher on sp(3) and oxidized surfaces in comparison to sp(2) domains. Accelerated Stability Test (AST) was applied only on the electronic-modified materials to evaluate the active phase degradation and their activity toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The stability of photodeposited materials is correlated with the surface chemical nature of supports indicating that platinum nanoparticles supported onto multiwalled carbon nanotubes with the highest sp(2) character show the higher stability and activity toward ORR.

Origin of Multiple Peaks in the Potentiodynamic Oxidation of CO Adlayers on Pt and Ru-Modified Pt Electrodes

The study of the electrooxidation mechanism of CO(ad) on Pt based catalysts is very important for designing more effective CO-tolerant electrocatalysts for fuel cells. We have studied the origin of multiple peaks in the cyclic voltammograms of CO stripping from polycrystalline Pt and Ru modified polycrystalline Pt (Pt/Ru) surfaces in both acidic and alkaline media by differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS), DFT calculations, and kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations. A new CO(ad) electrooxidation kinetic model on heterogeneous Pt and Pt/Ru catalysts is proposed to account for the multiple peaks experimentally observed. In this model, OH species prefer to adsorb at low-coordination sites or Ru sites and, thus, suppress CO repopulation from high-coordination sites onto these sites. Therefore, CO(ad) oxidation occurs on different facets or regions, leading to multiplicity of CO stripping peaks. This work provides a new insight into the CO electrooxidation mechanism and kinetics on heterogeneous catalysts.

Evidence of an Eley-Rideal mechanism in the stripping of a saturation layer of chemisorbed CO on platinum nanoparticles

The oxidative stripping of a saturation layer of CO(chem) was studied on platinum nanoparticles of high shape selectivity and narrow size distribution. Nanospheres, nanocubes, and nano-octahedrons were synthesized using the water-in-oil microemulsion or polyacrylate methods. The three shapes allowed examination of the CO(chem) stripping in relation to the geometry of the nanoparticles and presence of specific nanoscopic surface domains. Electrochemical quartz crystal nanobalance (EQCN) measurements provided evidence for the existence of more than one mechanism in the CO(chem) stripping. This was corroborated by chronoamperometry transient for a CO(chem) saturation layer at stripping potentials of E(strip) = 0.40, 0.50, 0.60, and 0.70 V. The first mechanism is operational in the case of CO(chem) stripping at lower E(strip) values; it proceeds without adsorption of anions or H(2)O molecules and corresponds to desorption of a fraction of CO(chem) in the form of a prepeak in voltammograms or in the form of an exponential decay in chrono-amperometry (CA) transients. The second mechanism is operational in the desorption of the remaining CO(chem) at higher E(strip) values and gives rise to at least two voltammetric peaks or two CA peaks. Analysis of the experimental data and modeling of the CA transients lead to the conclusion that the stripping of a saturation layer of CO(chem) first follows an Eley-Rideal mechanism in the early stage of the process and then a Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism.

Structure sensitivity and nanoscale effects in electrocatalysis

This review discusses the role of the detailed nanoscale structure of catalytic surfaces on the activity of various electrocatalytic reactions of importance for fuel cells, hydrogen production, and other environmentally important catalytic reactions, such as carbon monoxide oxidation, methanol and ethanol oxidation, ammonia oxidation, nitric oxide reduction, hydrogen evolution, and oxygen reduction. Specifically, results and insights obtained from surface-science single-crystal-based model experiments are linked to experiments on well-defined shape-controlled nanoparticles. A classification of structure sensitive effects in electrocatalysis is suggested, based both on empirical grounds and on quantum-chemical viz. thermochemical considerations. The mutual relation between the two classification schemes is also discussed. The review underscores the relevance of single-crystal modeling of nanoscale effects in catalysis, and points to the special role of two kinds of active sites for electrocatalysis on nanoparticulate surfaces: (i) steps and defects in (111) terraces or facets, and (ii) long-range (100) terraces or facets.

Effectiveness factor of Pt utilization in cathode catalyst layer of polymer electrolyte fuel cells

In this work, we analyze effectiveness factors of Pt utilization in perfluorosulfonate ionomer (PFSI) bonded thin film cathode catalyst layers of polymer electrolyte fuel cells. We define the effectiveness factor of Pt utilization as the apparent rate of current conversion exhibited by a specific catalyst layer design divided by the ideal rate obtained if all Pt atoms were used equally in electrochemical reactions at the specified electrode overpotential and externally provided reactant concentrations. This definition includes statistical factors at all relevant scales as well as non-uniformities of reaction rate distributions under operation. Our model is based on the random composite agglomerated morphology of the catalyst layer. It accounts for the interplay of transport phenomena and electrochemical kinetics. At the mesoscopic scale, limited effectiveness of Pt utilization in agglomerates is mainly an electrostatic effect. We determined spatial distributions of effectiveness factors of agglomerates in the through-plane direction, and thereafter calculated overall effectiveness factors of the cathode catalyst layer. Our results show that small agglomerate radius, low operating current density, high operating temperature, and high oxygen partial pressure result in high effectiveness factors of Pt utilization. Finally, we compared PFSI-bonded thin film cathode catalyst layers with ultrathin two-phase cathode catalyst layers in terms of effectiveness factors. Including the surface to volume atom ratio of Pt nanoparticles, the two different types of structures exhibit similar effectiveness factors of Pt utilization, which are found to be distinctly below 10%.Key words: polymer electrolyte fuel cells, fuel cell modeling, cathode catalyst layer, Pt utilization, effectiveness factor.