Selective deposition of Pt onto supported metal clusters for fuel cell electrocatalysts

Highly Durable and Active Pt-Based Nanoscale Design for Fuel-Cell Oxygen-Reduction Electrocatalysts

Fuel cells are one of the promising energy-conversion devices due to their high efficiency and zero emission. Although recent advances in electrocatalysts have been achieved using various material designs such as alloys, core@shell structures, and shape control, many issues still remain to be resolved. Especially, material design issues for high durability and high activity are recently accentuated owing to severe instability of nanoparticles under fuel-cell operating conditions. To address these issues, fundamental understanding of functional links between activity and durability is timely urgent. Here, the activity and durability of nanoscale materials are summarized, focusing on the nanoparticle size effect. In addition to phenomenological observation, two major degradation origins, including atomic dissolution and particle size increase, are discussed related to the activity decrease. Based on the fundamental understanding of nanoparticle degradation, recent promising strategies for durable Pt-based nanoscale electrocatalysts are introduced and the role of each design for durability enhancement is discussed. Finally, short comments related to the future direction of nanoparticle issues are provided in terms of nanoparticle synthesis and analysis.

High electrocatalytic performance inspired by crystalline/amorphous interface in PtPb nanoplate

Nanoscale PtPb catalysts with core-shell structure have been actively explored in recent years owing to their outstanding catalytic activity. We report on a new class of PtPb nanoplate (NP) catalyst with a novel structure realized by ion irradiation modification, which contains an interface formed by a crystalline phase and an amorphous phase simultaneously in an annular state. Significantly, the PtPb NP with the new structure shows superior catalytic activity towards the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). The specific activity of PtPb NPs with the new structure reaches 4.32 mA cm-2 towards the MOR and the mass activity reaches 1.31 A mg-1, which is 1.9-fold and 1.4-fold greater than those for the original crystalline PtPb NPs, respectively. The outstanding catalytic activity could be attributed to the presence of the interface between a crystalline phase and an amorphous phase with a special electronic structure created by ion irradiation. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the novel interface activates the C-H and O-H bonds, leading to high electrocatalytic activity, and optimizes the adsorption of hydroxyl and intermediates on the surface to facilitate the oxidation reaction. The novel structure with an interface formed by a crystalline phase and an amorphous phase opens up a new approach to improve electrocatalytic activity.

Porous Hollow-Structured LaNiO3 Stabilized N,S-Codoped Graphene as an Active Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

A nanohybrid based on porous and hollow interior structured LaNiO₃ stabilized nitrogen and sulfur codoped graphene (LaNiO₃ /N,S-Gr) is successfully synthesized for the first time. Such a nanohybrid as an electrocatalyst shows high catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in O₂ -saturated 0.1 m KOH media. In addition, it demonstrates a comparable catalytic activity, longer working stability, and much better alcohol tolerance compared with commercial Pt/C behavior in same experiment condition. The obtained results are attributed to synergistic effects from the enhanced electrocatalytic active sites on the rich pore channels of porous hollow-structured LaNiO₃ spheres and heteroatom doped efficiency on graphene structure. In addition, N,S-Gr can meritoriously stabilize monodispersion of the LaNiO₃ spheres, and act as medium bridging for high electrical conductivity, thereby providing large active surface area for O₂ adsorption, accelerating reduction reaction, and improving electrochemical stability. Such a hybrid opens an interesting class of highly efficient non-Pt catalysts for ORR in alkaline media.

Self-interconnecting Pt nanowire network electrode for electrochemical amperometric biosensor

One-dimensional Pt nanostructures are of considerable interest for the development of highly stable and sensitive electrochemical sensors. This paper describes a self-interconnecting Pt nanowire network electrode (PtNNE) for the detection of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and glucose with ultrahigh sensitivity and stability. The as-prepared PtNNE consists of polycrystalline nanowires with high-index facets along the side surface which provides more active surface atoms on kinks and steps, those ultralong nanowires being interconnected with each other to form a free-standing network membrane. The excellent structural features of the PtNNE promoted its performance as a Pt-based electrochemical sensor both in terms of electrocatalytic activity and stability. Amperometric measurements towards hydrogen peroxide were performed; the PtNNE sensor showed an extremely high sensitivity of 1360 μA mM(-1) cm(-2). This excellent sensitivity is mainly attributed to the high-index facets of the nanowires resulting in their superior electrocatalytic activity towards H2O2, and the interconnected nanowire network forming an "electron freeway" transport model, which could provide multiple electron pathways and fast electron transport on the electrode, leading to rapid reaction and sensitive signal detection. The as-prepared PtNNE also holds promise as an oxidase-based biosensor. As a proof of concept, a PtNNE-based glucose biosensor also showed an outstanding sensitivity as high as 114 μA mM(-1) cm(-2), a low detection limit of 1.5 μM, and an impressive detection range from 5 μM to 30 mM.

Realization of Both High-Performance and Enhanced Durability of Fuel Cells: Pt-Exoskeleton Structure Electrocatalysts

Core-shell structure nanoparticles have been the subject of many studies over the past few years and continue to be studied as electrocatalysts for fuel cells. Therefore, many excellent core-shell catalysts have been fabricated, but few studies have reported the real application of these catalysts in a practical device actual application. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of platinum (Pt)-exoskeleton structure nanoparticles as cathode catalysts with high stability and remarkable Pt mass activity and report the outstanding performance of these materials when used in membrane-electrode assemblies (MEAs) within a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. The stability and degradation characteristics of these materials were also investigated in single cells in an accelerated degradation test using load cycling, which is similar to the drive cycle of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell used in vehicles. The MEAs with Pt-exoskeleton structure catalysts showed enhanced performance throughout the single cell test and exhibited improved degradation ability that differed from that of a commercial Pt/C catalyst.

Dendritic Pt@Au nanowires as nanocarriers and signal enhancers for sensitive electrochemical detection of carcinoembryonic antigen

An electrochemical aptasensor for the sensitive and selective determination of carcinoembryonic antigen was constructed based on dendritic Pt@AuNWs as nanocarriers and signal enhancers.

Surface Al leached Ti3AlC2 as a substitute for carbon for use as a catalyst support in a harsh corrosive electrochemical system

Surface Al leached Ti3AlC2 particles (e-TAC) with high corrosion resistance and excellent electrical conductivity were developed as an advanced support material for Pt catalysts. Electrochemical measurements confirm that the supported Pt/e-TAC electrocatalyst shows much improved activity and enhanced durability toward the oxygen reduction reaction when compared with the commercial Pt/C catalyst.