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Sub-Nanometer PtSn Interlayer Tuning Ligand and Strain Effects Boosts Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalysis
Rui Zhao1,2, Fangxu Lin2, Hongyu Guo2
1Key Laboratory of Water Environment Protection in Plateau Intersection (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Bioelectrochemistry and Environmental Analysis of Gansu Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, P. R. China.
We developed novel sandwich-structured nanowires that enhance oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysis for fuel cells. These catalysts improve efficiency and durability by optimizing platinum shell structure using tin interlayers.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electrochemistry
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Noble metal catalysts, particularly platinum, are crucial for fuel cell efficiency.
- Core/shell architectures offer tunable catalytic properties.
- Conventional Pt-shell catalysts face limitations due to lattice strain affecting oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and synthesize novel core/shell catalysts that overcome limitations of existing platinum-based ORR catalysts.
- To investigate the synergistic effects of ligand and strain tuning in a sandwich-structured nanowire system.
- To enhance the catalytic activity and durability of catalysts for fuel cell applications.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of palladium-tin/platinum-tin/platinum (PdSn/PtSn/Pt) sandwich-structured nanowires.
- Utilizing tin's diffusion properties to create a sub-nanometer PtSn interlayer.
- Characterization of intermetallic Pt-Sn bonds and their effect on platinum's d-band center and lattice strain.
- Electrochemical testing for ORR activity and durability in fuel cell conditions.
Main Results:
- The PtSn interlayer effectively downshifts the d-band center of platinum via ligand effects and optimizes compressive strain through tin diffusion.
- The resulting PdSn/(PtSn/Pt) nanowires exhibit significantly enhanced ORR mass activity (4.26 A mgPt+Pd-1) and durability (<30% decay after 20,000 cycles).
- An anion-exchange-membrane fuel cell utilizing these catalysts achieved a peak power density of 1.64 W cm-2 with high platinum utilization.
Conclusions:
- The developed sandwich-structured nanowires offer a promising strategy for high-performance ORR electrocatalysis.
- Synergistic ligand and strain engineering using intermetallic interlayers is effective in boosting catalyst efficiency and stability.
- These findings advance the development of next-generation fuel cell catalysts with improved performance and Pt utilization.
