Dealloyed carbon-supported PtAg nanostructures: Enhanced electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction

Dealloyed PtAg/C nanostructures, prepared by selective electrochemical etching of Ag in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ from a series of alloyed Pt_mAg/C samples with atomic Pt/Ag ratio m = 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5, were employed as cathode electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in 0.5 M KOH. Compared with their as-prepared counterpart alloy catalysts, the dealloyed catalysts showed higher half-wave potentials (E_1/2) and significantly higher Pt mass-specific activity (MSA) data. The intrinsic activity (IA) of Pt increased more or less after the dealloying treatment but was strongly dependent on the composition (m) of the alloyed sample. The Pt IA numbers were comparable for the dealloyed catalysts derived from Pt_mAg/C of m = 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5, which were nearly twice that for E-TEK Pt/C catalyst and 3 times that for the dealloyed catalyst derived from Pt_0.1Ag/C.