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Title: Shaping electrocatalysis through tailored nanomaterials

Journal Article · · Nano Today
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3]
  1. Univ. of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu (China). Inst. of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences
  2. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
  3. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Materials Science Division

Electrocatalysis is a subclass of heterogeneous catalysis that is aimed towards increase of the electrochemical reaction rates that are taking place at the surface of electrodes. Real-world electrocatalysts are usually based on precious metals in the form of nanoparticles due to their high surface-to-volume ratio, which enables better utilization of employed materials. Ability to tailor nanostructure of an electrocatalyst is critical in order to tune their electrocatalytic properties. Over the last decade, that has mainly been achieved through implementation of fundamental studies performed on well-defined extended surfaces with distinct single crystalline and polycrystalline structures. Based on these studies, it has been demonstrated that performance of an electrocatalyst could be significantly changed through the control of size, composition, morphology and architecture of employed nanomaterials. This review outlines the following steps in the process of rational development of an efficient electrocatalyst: 1) electrochemical properties of well-defined surfaces, 2) synthesis and characterization of different classes of electrocatalysts, and 3) correlation between physical properties (size, shape, composition and morphology) and electrochemical behavior (adsorption, electrocatalytic activity and durability) of electrocatalyst. In addition, this is a brief summary of the novel research platforms in the development of functional nanomaterials for energy conversion and storage applications such as fuel cells electrolyzers and batteries.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Fuel Cell Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357; AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1352884
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1397382; OSTI ID: 1832539
Journal Information:
Nano Today, Vol. 11, Issue 5; ISSN 1748-0132
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 112 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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