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Inducing Covalent Atomic Interaction in Intermetallic Pt Alloy Nanocatalysts for High-Performance Fuel Cells |
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| Authors: | Xuan Liu Prof. Zhonglong Zhao Dr. Jiashun Liang Shenzhou Li Prof. Gang Lu Cameron Priest Prof. Tanyuan Wang Jiantao Han Prof. Gang Wu Prof. Xiaoming Wang Prof. Yunhui Huang Prof. Qing Li |
| Affiliation: | 1. State Key Laboratory of Material Processing and Die & Mould Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074 China;2. School of Physical Science and Technology, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010021 China;3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, California State University, Northridge, CA 91330 USA;4. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260 USA;5. Department of Chemistry and Key Laboratory for Preparation and Application of Ordered Structural Materials of Guangdong Province, Shantou University, Shantou, 515063 China |
| Abstract: | The harsh working environments of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) pose huge challenges to the stability of Pt-based alloy catalysts. The widespread presence of metallic bonds with significantly delocalized electron distribution often lead to component segregation and rapid performance decay. Here we report L10−Pt2CuGa intermetallic nanoparticles with a unique covalent atomic interaction between Pt−Ga as high-performance PEMFC cathode catalysts. The L10−Pt2CuGa/C catalyst shows superb oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity and stability in fuel cell cathode (mass activity=0.57 A mgPt−1 at 0.9 V, peak power density=2.60/1.24 W cm−2 in H2-O2/air, 28 mV voltage loss at 0.8 A cm−2 after 30 000 cycles). Theoretical calculations reveal the optimized adsorption of oxygen intermediates via the formed biaxial strain on L10−Pt2CuGa surface, and the durability enhancement stems from the stronger Pt−M bonds than those in L11−PtCu resulted from Pt−Ga covalent interactions. |
| Keywords: | Covalent Interaction Electrocatalysis Fuel Cells Intermetallics Oxygen Reduction Reaction |