Tuning Nb–Pt Interactions To Facilitate Fuel Cell Electrocatalysis

Journal Article · Fri Jun 30 04:00:00 EDT 2017 · ACS Catalysis

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.7b01061· OSTI ID:1409633

Ghoshal, Shraboni ^[1]; Jia, Qingying ^[1]; Bates, Michael K. ^[1]; Li, Jingkun ^[1]; Xu, Chunchuan ^[2]; Gath, Kerrie ^[2]; Yang, Jun ^[2]; Waldecker, James ^[2]; Che, Haiying ^[3]; Liang, Wentao ^[4]; Meng, Guangnan ^[5]; Ma, Zi-Feng ^[3]; Mukerjee, Sanjeev ^[1]

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1. Northeastern University for Renewable Energy Technology, Department of Chemistry &, Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
2. Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan 48121, United States
3. Shanghai Electrochemical Energy Devices Research Center, Department of Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People’s Republic of China
4. Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
5. ULVAC Technologies, Inc., 401 Griffin Brook Drive, Methuen, Massachusetts 01844, United States

High stability, availability of multiple oxidation states, and accessibility within a wide electrochemical window are the prime features of Nb that make it a favorable candidate for electrocatalysis, especially when it is combined with Pt. However, Nb has been used as a support in the form of oxides in all previously reported Pt–Nb electrocatalysts, and no Pt–Nb alloying phase has been demonstrated hitherto. Herein, we report a multifunctional Pt–Nb composite (PtNb/NbOx-C) where Nb exists both as an alloying component with Pt and as an oxide support and is synthesized by means of a simple wet chemical method. In this work, the Pt–Nb alloy phase has been firmly verified with the help of multiple spectroscopic methods. This allows for the experimental evidence of the theoretical prediction that Pt–Nb alloy interactions improve the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of Pt. In addition, such a combination of multiphase Nb brings up myriad features encompassing increased ORR durability, immunity to phosphate anion poisoning, enhanced hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) activity, and oxidative carbon monoxide (CO) stripping, making this electrocatalyst useful in multiple fuel cell systems.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
• DOE Contract Number: SC0012704
• OSTI ID: 1409633
• Report Number(s): BNL--114685-2017-JA¿¿¿
• Journal Information: ACS Catalysis, Journal Name: ACS Catalysis Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 7; ISSN 2155-5435
• Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY