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Surface activation of platinum group metal clusters for efficient and durable oxygen reduction in proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Authors :
Qingtao Liu
Jieyuan Liu
Xiaofang Liu
Yu Wang
Song Hong
Jianbo Wu
Jiaxiang Shang
Ronghai Yu
Jungang Miao
Jianglan Shui
Source :
Applied Physics Reviews. 10
Publication Year :
2023
Publisher :
AIP Publishing, 2023.

Abstract

To develop efficient and durable acidic oxygen–reduction–reaction (ORR) catalysts based on all platinum group metals (PGMs) is crucial for large-scale application of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) but challenging. Here, we report a nitrogen coordination-induced strong metal–support interaction that can tune the surface atoms of ORR-inactive PGM clusters into efficient and durable active sites. Taking Rh as an example, the carbonization of Rh-overdoped zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 results in a large number of Rh clusters (with a little atomic Rh) in porous nitrogen-doped carbon. The cluster surface atoms coordinate with the nitrogen of the carbon support, forming much stronger metal–support interactions than that of common N-doped carbon-supported metal nanoparticles. The activity of surface-activated Rh clusters is close to that of Pt/C. The regulation rules for the surface active sites inherit most of the characteristics of the corresponding single-atom catalysts, but without their severe instability problem. This surface activation strategy has also shown applicable to other PGMs, thereby it is a promising way to alleviate the reliance of PEMFCs on platinum.

Subjects

Subjects :
General Physics and Astronomy

Details

ISSN :
19319401
Volume :
10
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Applied Physics Reviews
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........5a6b118d86c0ceaaeee8bd59b92106e0