Ruthenium-Alloy Electrocatalysts with Tunable Hydrogen Oxidation Kinetics in Alkaline Electrolyte

St. John, Samuel; Atkinson, III, Robert W.; Unocic, Raymond R.; Zawodzinski, Jr., Thomas A.; Papandrew, Alexander B.

doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b03284

Ruthenium-Alloy Electrocatalysts with Tunable Hydrogen Oxidation Kinetics in Alkaline Electrolyte

Journal Article · Thu May 21 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Journal of Physical Chemistry. C

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b03284· OSTI ID:1186926

St. John, Samuel ^[1]; Atkinson, III, Robert W. ^[1]; Unocic, Raymond R. ^[2]; Zawodzinski, Jr., Thomas A. ^[3]; Papandrew, Alexander B. ^[1]

Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

High-surface-area ruthenium-based Ru_xM_y (M = Pt or Pd) alloy catalysts supported on carbon black were synthesized to investigate the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) in alkaline electrolytes. The exchange current density for hydrogen oxidation on a Pt-rich Ru_0.20Pt_0.80 catalyst is 1.42 mA/cm², nearly 3 times that of Pt (0.490 mA/cm²). Furthermore, Ru_xPt_y alloy surfaces in 0.1 M KOH yield a Tafel slope of ~30 mV/dec, in contrast with the ~125 mV/dec Tafel slope observed for supported Pt, signifying that hydrogen dissociative adsorption is rate-limiting rather than charge-transfer processes. Ru alloying with Pd does not result in modified kinetics. We attribute these disparate results to the interplay of bifunctional and ligand effects. Here, the dependence of the rate-determining step on the choice of alloy element allows for tuning catalyst activity and suggests not only that a low-cost, alkaline anode catalyst is possible but also that it is tantalizingly close to reality.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: NSF; USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1186926

Journal Information:: Journal of Physical Chemistry. C, Journal Name: Journal of Physical Chemistry. C Journal Issue: 24 Vol. 119; ISSN 1932-7447

Publisher:: American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: ENGLISH

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Ruthenium-Alloy Electrocatalysts with Tunable Hydrogen Oxidation Kinetics in Alkaline Electrolyte

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