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Synthesis and Testing of Supported Pt-Cu Solid Solution Nanoparticle Catalysts for Propane Dehydrogenation
Published on: July 18, 2017
Elucidating the active site on PdPt nanocatalysts supported by MoS2-x for the hydrogen evolution reaction
Annabelle M K Hadley1, Lanna E B Lucchetti1, Sakshi Gautam1
1Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University 8888 University Drive Burnaby BC V5A 1S6 Canada ssiahros@sfu.ca bgates@sfu.ca.
Abstract:
High-resolution electron microscopy was combined with DFT analysis to uncover the hydrogen evolving active sites of highly effective PdPt nanocatalysts supported on desulfurized MoS2 (PdPt/MoS2-x ). The PdPt/MoS2-x electrocatalysts were prepared by sequentially electrodepositing Pd and then Pt onto exfoliated and desulfurized MoS2 nanosheets. This procedure, established in previous work, produced highly active electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) compared with other similar nanocatalyst compositions. Computational modelling proposed that high HER activity could arise from both interactions between Pd and Pt atoms within a cluster composed of a mixture of the two metals, and from the interface between the MoS2-x substrate and a metal cluster with the opposite morphology (i.e., PtPd core-shell). High-resolution electron microscopy and elemental mapping revealed that the newly synthesized material had a PdPt core-shell morphology that, upon electrochemical cycling at potentials relevant to water electrolysis, transformed into a more homogeneous alloy with adjacent Pd-rich deposits. This 'activated' morphology aligned with the structures predicted to exhibit a high HER activity using DFT calculations.
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