@article{b1199dd06bde42008d694f772704150b,
title = "Strong electrostatic adsorption approach to the synthesis of sub-three nanometer intermetallic platinum–cobalt oxygen reduction catalysts",
abstract = "Low-platinum group metal (low-PGM) intermetallics are among the best materials as active and stable electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The lack of control over the particle size and size distribution limits the use of thermal annealing method in the synthesis of carbon-supported low-PGM intermetallics because of the surface atomic diffusion at elevated temperatures. Herewith, we report the synthesis of sub-3 nm intermetallic PtCo ORR catalysts using a strong electrostatic adsorption (SEA) approach. The strong adhesion of metal ion precursors ensured to anchor the PtCo nanoparticles on the carbon support, thus suppressing the atomic migration and sintering during their conversions to intermetallic phases. The mass activity of the intermetallic PtCo catalyst was 0.67 A/mgPt (at 0.9 V vs. RHE) which was more than double that of its alloyed counterpart. Most noticeably, the mass activity of this catalyst dropped by merely 3% of its initial value after the accelerated durability test of 10,000 cycles, in a strong acid condition. This study provides a useful strategy for preparing ultrafine low-PGM intermetallic nanocrystals for ORR and paves the way to use the SEA approach for making intermetallic ORR electrocatalysts using various metals and support materials.",
keywords = "Intermetallic, Oxygen reduction reaction, PtCo, Strong electrostatic adsorption, Ultrasmall nanoparticle",
author = "Yanling Ma and Kuhn, {Andrew N.} and Wenpei Gao and Talha Al-Zoubi and Hui Du and Xiaoqing Pan and Hong Yang",
note = "Funding Information: This research was supported in part by a start-up fund from University of Illinois. The nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon was provided by Toyota Research Institute of North America. As a visiting graduate student from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Y. M. was supported in part by a scholarship from China Scholarship Council (CSC). Electron microscopy characterizations were carried out at the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory Central Research Facilities, University of Illinois, and Irvine Materials Research Institute at University of California, Irvine. The X-ray diffraction was carried out at the George L. Clark X-ray Facility and 3M Materials Laboratory, School of Chemical Science at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We would like to thank Dr. Yongqi Lu from Illinois State Geological Survey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for his help on the BET surface area measurements. The authors declare no competing financial interest. Funding Information: This research was supported in part by a start-up fund from University of Illinois . The nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon was provided by Toyota Research Institute of North America. As a visiting graduate student from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Y. M. was supported in part by a scholarship from China Scholarship Council (CSC). Electron microscopy characterizations were carried out at the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory Central Research Facilities, University of Illinois, and Irvine Materials Research Institute at University of California, Irvine. The X-ray diffraction was carried out at the George L. Clark X-ray Facility and 3M Materials Laboratory, School of Chemical Science at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We would like to thank Dr. Yongqi Lu from Illinois State Geological Survey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for his help on the BET surface area measurements. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 Elsevier Ltd Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",
year = "2021",
month = jan,
doi = "10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.105465",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "79",
journal = "Nano Energy",
issn = "2211-2855",
publisher = "Elsevier BV",
}