Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reaction by Pd‐Pt Alloy Catalyst with Stabilized Platinum Skin.

Reducing the consumption of precious Platinum (Pt) metal by alloying with other transition metals or searching a new low cost, Pt‐free catalyst with the activity and durability higher than the state‐of‐the‐art Pt/C catalyst are the two possible approaches to accelerate the practical application of low temperature fuel cells. Herein we investigate the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalytic activity (1023 μA cm−2.Pt; 5 times higher than commercial Pt/C) and the corrosion stability of novel "Pt skin@PdPt" nanostructures in acidic media. An interesting trend of increment in the ORR activity with durability cycles has been found indicating a systematic surface rearrangement in "Pt skin@PdPt". A systematic enhancement in the ORR activity from an initial value of 1023 μA cm−2.Pt to 1448 μA cm−2.Pt after 30,000 durability cycles has been observed indicating stable nature of low Pt content Pt skin@PdPt electrocatalyst. More than seven times (1448 μA cm−2.Pt) higher activity against the state‐of‐the‐art Pt/C catalyst has been seen with an electrochemical surface area (ECSA) of ∼97 m2 g−1.Pt, even after 30,000 potential cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]