Segregated Pt on Pd nanotubes for enhanced oxygen reduction activity in alkaline electrolyte

Nanoscaled Pt domains were integrated with Pd nanotubes via vapor deposition to yield a highly active electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline media. The surface-area-normalized ORR activity of these bi-metallic Pt-on-Pd nanotubes (PtPdNTs) was nearly 6× the corresponding carbon-supported Pt nanoparticle (Pt/C) activity at 0.9 V vs. RHE (1.5 vs. 0.24 mA cmmetal(-2), respectively). Furthermore, the high specific activity of the PtPdNTs was achieved without sacrificing mass-normalized activity, which is more than twice that of Pt/C (0.333 A mgPtPdNT(-1)vs. 0.141 A mgPt/C(-1)) and also greater than that of Pd/C (0.221 A mgPd/C(-1)). We attribute the enhancements in specific and mass activity to modifications of the segregated Pt electronic structure and to nanoscale porosity, respectively.