Communication: Enhanced oxygen reduction reaction and its underlying mechanism in Pd-Ir-Co trimetallic alloys
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States)
- Energy Lab, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Suwon (Korea, Republic of)
- Department of Energy and Mineral Resources Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul 143-747 (Korea, Republic of)
Based on a combined density functional theory and experimental study, we present that the electrochemical activity of Pd{sub 3}Co alloy catalysts toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) can be enhanced by adding a small amount of Ir. While Ir tends to favorably exist in the subsurface layers, the underlying Ir atoms are found to cause a substantial modification in the surface electronic structure. As a consequence, we find that the activation barriers of O/OH hydrogenation reactions are noticeably lowered, which would be mainly responsible for the enhanced ORR activity. Furthermore, our study suggests that the presence of Ir in the near-surface region can suppress Co out-diffusion from the Pd{sub 3}Co substrate, thereby improving the durability of Pd-Ir-Co catalysts. We also discuss the relative roles played by Ir and Co in enhancing the ORR activity relative to monometallic Pd catalysts.
- OSTI ID:
- 22251320
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 139, Issue 20; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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