skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Pt alloy nanoparticles decorated on large-size nitrogen-doped graphene tubes for highly stable oxygen-reduction catalysts

Journal Article · · Nanoscale
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/C8NR05888A· OSTI ID:1476277

Pt alloy nanoparticles supported on Vulcan XC-72 (Pt/C) are the most effective catalysts for kinetically sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. However, significant performance degradation has been observed with the Pt/C catalysts due to agglomeration and Ostwald ripening of Pt nanoparticles largely resulting from the corrosion of carbon supports. In this paper, we developed a Pt alloy catalyst through annealing Pt nanoparticles deposited on nitrogen/metal co-doped large-size graphene tubes (NGTs). The in-situ formation of PtM (M: Co and Ni) alloy during the annealing process contributes to the improvement of the catalytic activity and stability. During the accelerated stress tests (AST), after 20 000 potential cycles (0.6–1.0 V vs. RHE), the retained electrochemical surface area (ECSA) of the PtM/NGT catalyst is more than 2 times larger than that of the Pt/C catalyst. As for the AST tests of carbon corrosion, after 30 000 potential cycles (1.0–1.5 V vs. RHE) at room temperature, the NGT morphologies are well maintained and no ECSA loss of this PtM catalyst is observed, indicating excellent corrosion-resistance. Even at harsher 60 °C, the PtM/NGT catalyst exhibits only insignificant loss (6 mV) of E1/2 while the Pt/C catalyst shows significant degradation (47 mV loss in E1/2). Finally, the improved stability of PtM/NGT catalyst is attributed to the highly graphitized NGTs and possible synergistic effects between the NGT carbon support and the PtM alloy nanoparticles.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Univ. at Buffalo, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704
OSTI ID:
1476277
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1469234
Report Number(s):
BNL-209135-2018-JAAM
Journal Information:
Nanoscale, Vol. 10, Issue 36; ISSN 2040-3364
Publisher:
Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 37 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (59)

Raman spectroscopy of graphene and graphite: Disorder, electron–phonon coupling, doping and nonadiabatic effects journal July 2007
The influence of nickel and cobalt on putative members of the oxygen-sensing pathway of erythropoietin-producing HepG2 cells journal August 1998
Toxicity of iron and hydrogen peroxide: the Fenton reaction journal December 1995
Size-controlled large-diameter and few-walled carbon nanotube catalysts for oxygen reduction journal January 2015
Pt nanoparticle stability in PEM fuel cells: influence of particle size distribution and crossover hydrogen journal January 2009
Recent advancements in Pt and Pt-free catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction journal January 2015
Highly Active and Durable Co-Doped Pt/CCC Cathode Catalyst for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells journal June 2015
Highly Crystalline Multimetallic Nanoframes with Three-Dimensional Electrocatalytic Surfaces journal February 2014
Improved Oxygen Reduction Activity and Durability of Dealloyed PtCo x Catalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: Strain, Ligand, and Particle Size Effects journal November 2014
Activity benchmarks and requirements for Pt, Pt-alloy, and non-Pt oxygen reduction catalysts for PEMFCs journal March 2005
Particle size and alloying effects of Pt-based alloy catalysts for fuel cell applications journal August 2000
Carbon nanocomposite catalysts for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions: From nitrogen doping to transition-metal addition journal November 2016
Understanding and approaches for the durability issues of Pt-based catalysts for PEM fuel cell journal September 2007
Scientific Aspects of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Durability and Degradation journal October 2007
Development of Method for Synthesis of Pt–Co Cathode Catalysts for PEM Fuel Cells journal January 2007
Electrochemistry: Development and Simulation of Sulfur-doped Graphene Supported Platinum with Exemplary Stability and Activity Towards Oxygen Reduction (Adv. Funct. Mater. 27/2014) journal July 2014
High-Performance Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Derived from Polyaniline, Iron, and Cobalt journal April 2011
Electrocatalyst approaches and challenges for automotive fuel cells journal June 2012
Electrochemical Stability of Nanometer-Scale Pt Particles in Acidic Environments journal January 2010
Activity, stability and degradation of multi walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) supported Pt fuel cell electrocatalysts journal January 2010
Raman Spectroelectrochemistry of a Carbon Supercapacitor journal January 2001
Ordered Pt 3 Co Intermetallic Nanoparticles Derived from Metal–Organic Frameworks for Oxygen Reduction journal June 2018
Metal-Organic Framework-Derived Bamboo-like Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Tubes as an Active Matrix for Hybrid Oxygen-Reduction Electrocatalysts journal November 2014
Enhancement of the Electroreduction of Oxygen on Pt Alloys with Fe, Ni, and Co journal January 1999
Raman spectroscopy in graphene journal April 2009
Large Area, Few-Layer Graphene Films on Arbitrary Substrates by Chemical Vapor Deposition journal January 2009
Oxygen Reduction on Carbon-Supported Pt−Ni and Pt−Co Alloy Catalysts journal April 2002
Supportless Pt and PtPd Nanotubes as Electrocatalysts for Oxygen-Reduction Reactions journal May 2007
Improved Oxygen Reduction Activity on Pt3Ni(111) via Increased Surface Site Availability journal January 2007
3-D composite electrodes for high performance PEM fuel cells composed of Pt supported on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes grown on carbon paper journal February 2009
Consumption Rate of Pt under Potential Cycling journal January 2007
Development of a Titanium Dioxide-Supported Platinum Catalyst with Ultrahigh Stability for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Applications journal October 2009
Nanostructured Pt-alloy electrocatalysts for PEM fuel cell oxygen reduction reaction journal January 2010
A carbon-nanotube-supported graphene-rich non-precious metal oxygen reduction catalyst with enhanced performance durability journal January 2013
Effect of nitrogen doping on Raman spectra of multi-walled carbon nanotubes journal September 2008
Chemisorption of Transition-Metal Atoms on Boron- and Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanotubes: Energetics and Geometric and Electronic Structures journal April 2009
Single Atomic Iron Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction in Acidic Media: Particle Size Control and Thermal Activation journal September 2017
Nanocarbon/oxide composite catalysts for bifunctional oxygen reduction and evolution in reversible alkaline fuel cells: A mini review journal January 2018
Raman microprobe studies on carbon materials journal January 1994
Influence of Nitrogen Doping on Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalysis at Carbon Nanofiber Electrodes journal March 2005
Development of Highly Active and Durable Hybrid Cathode Catalysts for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells journal January 2014
Octahedral PtNi Nanoparticle Catalysts Exceptional Oxygen Reduction Activity by Tuning the Alloy Particle Surface Composition journal October 2012
Dealloyed binary PtM3 (M=Cu, Co, Ni) and ternary PtNi3M (M=Cu, Co, Fe, Cr) electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction: Performance in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells journal January 2011
Compositional segregation in shaped Pt alloy nanoparticles and their structural behaviour during electrocatalysis journal June 2013
Well-Dispersed High-Loading Pt Nanoparticles Supported by Shell−Core Nanostructured Carbon for Methanol Electrooxidation journal April 2008
Controllable Pt Nanoparticle Deposition on Carbon Nanotubes as an Anode Catalyst for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells journal December 2005
Recent progress in graphene-based nanomaterials as advanced electrocatalysts towards oxygen reduction reaction journal January 2013
Nitrogen doped graphene nanoplatelets as catalyst support for oxygen reduction reaction in proton exchange membrane fuel cell journal January 2010
Highly Active and Stable Graphene Tubes Decorated with FeCoNi Alloy Nanoparticles via a Template-Free Graphitization for Bifunctional Oxygen Reduction and Evolution journal August 2016
Nitrogen-Coordinated Single Cobalt Atom Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells journal January 2018
Synthesis of an improved hierarchical carbon-fiber composite as a catalyst support for platinum and its application in electrocatalysis journal October 2012
Porous Pt-Ni-P Composite Nanotube Arrays: Highly Electroactive and Durable Catalysts for Methanol Electrooxidation journal March 2012
Remarkable support effect of SWNTs in Pt catalyst for methanol electrooxidation journal December 2005
Carbon-supported Pt nanoparticles as catalysts for proton exchange membrane fuel cells journal January 2005
Enhanced stability of Pt electrocatalysts by nitrogen doping in CNTs for PEM fuel cells journal October 2009
The role of nanostructure in nitrogen-containing carbon catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction journal April 2006
An XPS study on oxidation states of Pt and its alloys with Co and Cr and its relevance to electroreduction of oxygen journal March 2001
Enhancement of Pt and Pt-alloy fuel cell catalyst activity and durability via nitrogen-modified carbon supports journal January 2010
Supportless Pt and PtPd Nanotubes as Electrocatalysts for Oxygen-Reduction Reactions journal May 2007

Cited By (9)

Engineering Local Coordination Environments of Atomically Dispersed and Heteroatom‐Coordinated Single Metal Site Electrocatalysts for Clean Energy‐Conversion journal November 2019
A Composite Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalyst for High‐Performance Rechargeable Zinc–Air Batteries journal March 2020
Achievements, challenges and perspectives on cathode catalysts in proton exchange membrane fuel cells for transportation journal July 2019
Comparison of the structure and methanol electrooxidation ability from irregular PtNi nanocrystals to PtNiRu nanodendrites journal January 2020
3D porous graphitic nanocarbon for enhancing the performance and durability of Pt catalysts: a balance between graphitization and hierarchical porosity journal January 2019
IrO 2 -incorporated La 0.8 Sr 0.2 MnO 3 as a bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst with enhanced activities journal January 2019
Analytical modeling framework for performance degradation of PEM fuel cells during startup–shutdown cycles journal January 2020
Large-diameter and heteroatom-doped graphene nanotubes decorated with transition metals as carbon hosts for lithium–sulfur batteries journal January 2019
Thermally driven interfacial diffusion synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon confined trimetallic Pt 3 CoRu composites for the methanol oxidation reaction journal January 2019

Similar Records

Electrochemical characterization of evolving ionomer/electrocatalyst interactions throughout accelerated stress tests
Journal Article · Sat Dec 17 00:00:00 EST 2022 · Journal of Power Sources · OSTI ID:1476277

Electrochemical Characterization of Evolving Ionomer/Electrocatalyst Interactions Throughout Accelerated Stress Tests
Journal Article · Sat Dec 17 00:00:00 EST 2022 · Journal of Power Sources · OSTI ID:1476277

3D Analysis of Fuel Cell Electrocatalyst Degradation on Alternate Carbon Supports
Journal Article · Tue Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces · OSTI ID:1476277