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

Journal Article · · Journal of Physical Chemistry. C
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  3. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

High-surface-area ruthenium-based RuxMy (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 Ru0.20Pt0.80 catalyst is 1.42 mA/cm2, nearly 3 times that of Pt (0.490 mA/cm2). Furthermore, RuxPty 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.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1186926
Journal Information:
Journal of Physical Chemistry. C, Vol. 119, Issue 24; ISSN 1932-7447
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 72 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (11)

High-Performance Hydroxide Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells through Optimization of Relative Humidity, Backpressure and Catalyst Selection journal January 2019
Engineering heterometallic bonding in bimetallic electrocatalysts: towards optimized hydrogen oxidation and evolution reactions journal January 2020
Origin of Superior HOR/HER Activity of Bimetallic Pt-Ru Catalysts in Alkaline Media Identified via Ru@Pt Core-Shell Nanoparticles journal January 2018
A Pd/C-CeO 2 Anode Catalyst for High-Performance Platinum-Free Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells journal April 2016
Recent progress in the structure control of Pd–Ru bimetallic nanomaterials journal July 2016
The Comparability of Pt to Pt-Ru in Catalyzing the Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction for Alkaline Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells Operated at 80 °C journal January 2019
Impact of the Anode Catalyst Layer Design on the Performance of H 2 O 2 -Direct Borohydride Fuel Cells journal January 2019
The Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction in Alkaline Medium: An Overview journal March 2019
Uniform Pd 0.33 Ir 0.67 nanoparticles supported on nitrogen-doped carbon with remarkable activity toward the alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction journal January 2019
Evaluating Hydrogen Evolution and Oxidation in Alkaline Media to Establish Baselines journal January 2018
A Pd/C-CeO 2 Anode Catalyst for High-Performance Platinum-Free Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells journal April 2016

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