Ternary Heterostructural Pt/CN_x/Ni as a Supercatalyst for Oxygen Reduction

We report here a supercatalyst for oxygen reduction of Pt/CN_x/Ni in a unique ternary heterostructure, in which the Pt and the underlying Ni nanoparticles are separated by two to three layers of nitrogen-doped carbon (CN_x), which mediates the transfer of electrons from the inner Ni to the outer Pt and protects the Ni against corrosion at the same time. The well-engineered low-Pt catalyst shows ∼780% enhanced specific mass activity or 490% enhanced specific surface activity compared with a commercial Pt/C catalyst toward oxygen reduction. More importantly, the exceptionally strong tune on the Pt by the unique structure makes the catalyst superbly stable, and its mass activity of 0.72 A/mg_Pt at 0.90 V (well above the US Department of Energy's 2020 target of 0.44 A/mg_Pt at 0.90 V) after 50,000 cyclic voltammetry cycles under acidic conditions is still better than that of the fresh commercial catalyst.