TY - JOUR
T1 - Highly Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity and Electrochemical Stability of Pt/Ir(111) Bimetallic Surfaces
AU - Todoroki, Naoto
AU - Watanabe, Hirofumi
AU - Kondo, Takayuki
AU - Kaneko, Soma
AU - Wadayama, Toshimasa
PY - 2016/12/20
Y1 - 2016/12/20
N2 -
We demonstrate highly enhanced ORR activity and electrochemical stability of Pt/Ir(111) model core-shell catalysts prepared by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) in ultra-high vacuum (UHV). Reflection high-energy electron diffraction patterns for the surfaces show that Pt grew epitaxially on the clean Ir(111) substrate and the corresponding scanning tunneling microscope images collected in UHV reveal atomically flat terraces with 50–80 nm widths at a substrate temperature of 673 K. In contrast, the corresponding surfaces prepared at a substrate temperature of 303 K show island-like topmost surface structures. The two-monolayer (ML)-thick Pt grown on Ir(111) (Pt
2ML
/Ir(111)) surfaces, prepared at substrate temperatures of 303 K and 673 K, show ca. 6 and 24 times higher ORR activities than clean Pt(111), respectively. The anomalous activity enhancement for the latter surface prepared at 673 K is probably caused by homogeneous surface strain acting on the Pt shells that is derived from the 2.2% lattice mismatch between the Pt and Ir. The preparation-temperature–dependent ORR activity suggests that the activity can be dominated by the topmost surface and interface structures of the Pt shell–Ir(111) bimetallic system. Furthermore, while the initial ORR activity of pristine surfaces decreases with increasing Pt shell thickness, the stability during room temperature potential cycling between 0.6 and 1.0 V in a 0.1 M HClO
4
solution was greatly enhanced above three ML thickness; the Pt
4ML
/Ir(111) surface prepared at 673 K retained 6.5 times higher ORR activity than Pt(111), even after 5000 potential cycles. The ORR activity and electrochemical stabilities for the Pt/Ir(111) bimetallic surfaces are the highest among the MBE-prepared Pt/M(111) (M = Ir, Pd, Au) systems reported to date. The results obtained in this study show that Pt/Ir core–shell nanostructures are potential candidates for highly active and durable ORR catalysts.
AB -
We demonstrate highly enhanced ORR activity and electrochemical stability of Pt/Ir(111) model core-shell catalysts prepared by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) in ultra-high vacuum (UHV). Reflection high-energy electron diffraction patterns for the surfaces show that Pt grew epitaxially on the clean Ir(111) substrate and the corresponding scanning tunneling microscope images collected in UHV reveal atomically flat terraces with 50–80 nm widths at a substrate temperature of 673 K. In contrast, the corresponding surfaces prepared at a substrate temperature of 303 K show island-like topmost surface structures. The two-monolayer (ML)-thick Pt grown on Ir(111) (Pt
2ML
/Ir(111)) surfaces, prepared at substrate temperatures of 303 K and 673 K, show ca. 6 and 24 times higher ORR activities than clean Pt(111), respectively. The anomalous activity enhancement for the latter surface prepared at 673 K is probably caused by homogeneous surface strain acting on the Pt shells that is derived from the 2.2% lattice mismatch between the Pt and Ir. The preparation-temperature–dependent ORR activity suggests that the activity can be dominated by the topmost surface and interface structures of the Pt shell–Ir(111) bimetallic system. Furthermore, while the initial ORR activity of pristine surfaces decreases with increasing Pt shell thickness, the stability during room temperature potential cycling between 0.6 and 1.0 V in a 0.1 M HClO
4
solution was greatly enhanced above three ML thickness; the Pt
4ML
/Ir(111) surface prepared at 673 K retained 6.5 times higher ORR activity than Pt(111), even after 5000 potential cycles. The ORR activity and electrochemical stabilities for the Pt/Ir(111) bimetallic surfaces are the highest among the MBE-prepared Pt/M(111) (M = Ir, Pd, Au) systems reported to date. The results obtained in this study show that Pt/Ir core–shell nanostructures are potential candidates for highly active and durable ORR catalysts.
KW - core–shell structures
KW - iridium
KW - molecular beam epitaxy
KW - oxygen reduction reaction
KW - platinum
KW - polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell
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U2 - 10.1016/j.electacta.2016.11.149
DO - 10.1016/j.electacta.2016.11.149
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85028010443
VL - 222
SP - 1616
EP - 1621
JO - Electrochimica Acta
JF - Electrochimica Acta
SN - 0013-4686
ER -