Boosting Alcohol Oxidation Electrocatalysis with Multifactorial Engineered Pd₁/Pt Single-Atom Alloy-BiO_x Adatoms...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Engineering single-atomic sites on nanomaterials offers superior catalytic properties.
• Challenges exist in achieving atomic-level control on multimetallic nanocrystal surfaces.

Purpose of the Study:

• To engineer a unique catalyst surface with single-atomic sites on multimetallic nanocrystals.
• To investigate the catalytic activity of the engineered material for ethanol oxidation.

Main Methods:

• Multifactorial engineering of platinum-bismuth (PtBi) nanoplates (size, shape, phase, composition).
• Atomic-level modification of Pt edges with isolated palladium (Pd) atoms and bismuth oxide (BiOx) adatoms.
• Fabrication of a Pd1/Pt-BiOx electrocatalyst.

Main Results:

• Achieved a unique catalyst surface with isolated Pd atoms and BiOx adatoms on PtBi nanoplates.
• The Pd1/Pt-BiOx electrocatalyst demonstrated ultrahigh mass activity (16.01 A mg-1 Pt+Pd) for ethanol oxidation.
• Enabled a direct ethanol fuel cell with a peak power density of 56.7 mW cm-2.

Conclusions:

• BiOx adatoms mitigate CO-poisoning on the Pt surface, enhancing catalyst durability.
• The Pd1/Pt single-atom alloy structure facilitates efficient ethanol electrooxidation.
• Provides insights into designing sophisticated single-atomic site catalysts for high-performance electrocatalysis.