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Title: Mass-selected nanoparticles of PtxY as model catalysts for oxygen electroreduction

Abstract

Low-temperature fuel cells are limited by the oxygen reduction reaction, and their widespread implementation in automotive vehicles is hindered by cost of platinum currently the best-known catalyst for reducing oxygen in terms of both activity and stability. One solution is to decrease the amount of platinum required, for example by alloying, but without detrimentally affecting its properties. The alloy PtxY is known to be active and stable, but its synthesis in nanoparticulate form has proved challenging, which limits its further study. Herein we demonstrate the synthesis, characterization and catalyst testing of model PtxY nanoparticles prepared through the gas-aggregation technique. The catalysts reported here are highly active, with a mass activity of up to 3.05 A mgPt-1 at 0.9 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode. Using a variety of characterization techniques, we show that the enhanced activity of PtxY over platinum results exclusively from a compressive strain exerted on the platinum surface atoms by the alloy core.

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ORCiD logo; ; ; ; ; ; ORCiD logo;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1255588
DOE Contract Number:  
AC02-76SF00515
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Nature Chemistry
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 6; Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 1755-4330
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION; 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE

Citation Formats

Hernandez-Fernandez, Patricia, Masini, Federico, McCarthy, David N., Strebel, Christian E., Friebel, Daniel, Deiana, Davide, Malacrida, Paolo, Nierhoff, Anders, Bodin, Anders, Wise, Anna M., Nielsen, Jane H., Hansen, Thomas W., Nilsson, Anders, Stephens, Ifan E. L., and Chorkendorff, Ib. Mass-selected nanoparticles of PtxY as model catalysts for oxygen electroreduction. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1038/nchem.2001.
Hernandez-Fernandez, Patricia, Masini, Federico, McCarthy, David N., Strebel, Christian E., Friebel, Daniel, Deiana, Davide, Malacrida, Paolo, Nierhoff, Anders, Bodin, Anders, Wise, Anna M., Nielsen, Jane H., Hansen, Thomas W., Nilsson, Anders, Stephens, Ifan E. L., & Chorkendorff, Ib. Mass-selected nanoparticles of PtxY as model catalysts for oxygen electroreduction. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2001
Hernandez-Fernandez, Patricia, Masini, Federico, McCarthy, David N., Strebel, Christian E., Friebel, Daniel, Deiana, Davide, Malacrida, Paolo, Nierhoff, Anders, Bodin, Anders, Wise, Anna M., Nielsen, Jane H., Hansen, Thomas W., Nilsson, Anders, Stephens, Ifan E. L., and Chorkendorff, Ib. 2014. "Mass-selected nanoparticles of PtxY as model catalysts for oxygen electroreduction". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2001.
@article{osti_1255588,
title = {Mass-selected nanoparticles of PtxY as model catalysts for oxygen electroreduction},
author = {Hernandez-Fernandez, Patricia and Masini, Federico and McCarthy, David N. and Strebel, Christian E. and Friebel, Daniel and Deiana, Davide and Malacrida, Paolo and Nierhoff, Anders and Bodin, Anders and Wise, Anna M. and Nielsen, Jane H. and Hansen, Thomas W. and Nilsson, Anders and Stephens, Ifan E. L. and Chorkendorff, Ib},
abstractNote = {Low-temperature fuel cells are limited by the oxygen reduction reaction, and their widespread implementation in automotive vehicles is hindered by cost of platinum currently the best-known catalyst for reducing oxygen in terms of both activity and stability. One solution is to decrease the amount of platinum required, for example by alloying, but without detrimentally affecting its properties. The alloy PtxY is known to be active and stable, but its synthesis in nanoparticulate form has proved challenging, which limits its further study. Herein we demonstrate the synthesis, characterization and catalyst testing of model PtxY nanoparticles prepared through the gas-aggregation technique. The catalysts reported here are highly active, with a mass activity of up to 3.05 A mgPt-1 at 0.9 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode. Using a variety of characterization techniques, we show that the enhanced activity of PtxY over platinum results exclusively from a compressive strain exerted on the platinum surface atoms by the alloy core.},
doi = {10.1038/nchem.2001},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1255588}, journal = {Nature Chemistry},
issn = {1755-4330},
number = 8,
volume = 6,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Jul 13 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Sun Jul 13 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}