Proceedings of MATSUS Fall 2023 Conference (MATSUSFall23)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.matsus.2023.286
Publication date: 18th July 2023
Efficient and long-lasting electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) play a crucial role in ensuring the continuous functionality of advanced energy technologies like proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Among the elements, platinum stands out as the most effective and stable electrocatalyst for the ORR so far. However, even platinum is not entirely resistant to degradation under a hostile electrochemical environment of the cathode leading to an irreversible detrimental effect on performance during fuel cell operation. Studies of the degradation mechanisms of ORR catalysts and their underlying principles pointed out that the inhibition of Pt dissolution is crucial for suppressing their deterioration.
Targeting that aim, we investigated Pt–Au alloy model catalysts with various compositions (Pt95Au5, Pt90Au10, and Pt80Au20) prepared by magnetron sputtering. The promising stability improvement of the Pt–Au catalyst, manifested in suppressed platinum dissolution with increasing Au content, was documented over an extended potential range up to 1.5 VRHE. On the other hand, at elevated concentrations, Au showed a detrimental effect on ORR activity.
A systematic study involving multiple complementary characterization techniques such as Synchrotron Radiation Photoelectron Spectroscopy (SRPES), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Rotation Disc Electrode (RDE), Scanning Flow Cell coupled to an Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometer (SFC-ICP-MS), and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations based on Density Functional Theory (DFT) data enabled us to gain a comprehensive understanding of the composition–activity–stability relationship to find optimal Pt–Au alloying for maintaining the activity of monometallic platinum and improving its resistance to dissolution.
The results showed that Pt–Au alloy with 10% gold represents the most promising composition retaining the activity of monometallic Pt while suppressing Pt dissolution by 50% at the upper potential limit of 1.2 VRHE and by 20% at devastating 1.5 VRHE.
The work was financially supported the Czech Science Foundation, project No. 22-03643S
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