Rotating disk electrode measurements of acid-treated “Pt3Co” nanoparticles showed specific oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity (∼0.7 mA/cmPt at 0.9 V vs RHE in 0.1 M HClO4 at room temperature), twice that of Pt nanoparticles. Upon annealing at 1000 K in vacuum, the ORR activity at 0.9 V was increased to ∼1.4 mA/cmPt (four times that of Pt nanoparticles). High-resolution transmission electr...

Our TEM observation revealed that in a carbon-Pt3Co system, amorphous carbon first crystallized into nanoclusters at step-edges on melting Pt3Co surfaces before merging into graphene layers through a kinetic restructuring via oriented-attachment, leading to the final formation of few-layered graphene nanostructures. The result obtained from density-functional theory calculations further suggest...

Highly efficient electrocatalysts are essential for the production of green hydrogen from water electrolysis. Herein, a metal-organic framework-assisted pyrolysis-replacement-reorganization approach is developed to obtain ultrafine Pt-Co alloy nanoparticles (sub-10 nm) attached on inner and outer shells porous nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNT) with closed ends. During thermal reorganizatio...

The efficiency of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is limited largely by sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics, even when promoted by Pt-based alloy nanoparticles (NPs). Acid-leached Pt alloys such as “Pt3Co” have shown considerably higher specific (2−5 times) and mass (2 to 3 times) ORR activity than Pt NPs. However, the specific activity enhancement of “Pt3Co” NPs decr...

The impregnation method was used to synthesize Pt and Pt3Co supported on MWCNTs applying NaBH4 as the reducing agent. The structure, morphology, and chemical composition of the electrocatalysts were characterized through SEM, XRD, and EDX. X-ray diffraction showed a good crystallinity of the supported Pt nanoparticles on the composites and showed the formation of Pt3<...

The impregnation method was used to synthesize Pt and Pt3Co supported on MWCNTs applying NaBH4 as the reducing agent. The structure, morphology, and chemical composition of the electrocatalysts were characterized through SEM, XRD, and EDX. X-ray diffraction showed a good crystallinity of the supported Pt nanoparticles on the composites and showed the formation of Pt3<...

The catalytic performance of nanoparticles is primarily determined by the precise nature of the surface and near-surface atomic configurations, which can be tailored by post-synthesis annealing effectively and straightforwardly. Understanding the complete dynamic response of surface structure and chemistry to thermal treatments at the atomic scale is imperative for the rational design of cataly...

Various platinum-free electrocatalysts have been explored for hydrogen evolution reaction in acidic solutions. However, in economical water-alkali electrolysers, sluggish water dissociation kinetics (Volmer step) on platinum-free electrocatalysts results in poor hydrogen-production activities. Here we report a MoNi4 electrocatalyst supported by MoO2 cuboids on nickel foam (MoNi4/MoO2@Ni), which...

Driven by the demand for the commercialization of fuel cell (FC) technology, we describe the design and fabrication of a highly durable FC electrocatalyst based on double-polymer-coated carbon nanotubes for use in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. The fabricated electrocatalyst is composed of Pt-deposited polybenzimidazole-coated carbon nanotubes, which are further coated with Nafion. By...