Highly stable cathodes for proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Novel carbon supported Au@PtNiAu concave octahedral core-shell nanocatalyst

Huiyan Feng; Yuanyan Luo; Bowen Yan; Haobo Guo; Lanqi He; Zhi Qun Tian; Panagiotis Tsiakaras; Pei Kang Shen

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2022.06.115

Highly stable cathodes for proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Novel carbon supported Au@PtNiAu concave octahedral core-shell nanocatalyst

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2022 Nov 15:626:1040-1050. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.06.115. Epub 2022 Jun 26.

Authors

Huiyan Feng¹, Yuanyan Luo¹, Bowen Yan¹, Haobo Guo², Lanqi He³, Zhi Qun Tian⁴, Panagiotis Tsiakaras⁵, Pei Kang Shen⁶

Affiliations

¹ Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, PR China.
² School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, Australia.
³ School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China.
⁴ Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, PR China. Electronic address: tianzhiqun@gxu.edu.cn.
⁵ Laboratory of Alternative Energy Conversion Systems, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Thessaly, Pedion Areos, Volos 38334, Greece. Electronic address: tsiak@uth.gr.
⁶ Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, PR China. Electronic address: pkshen@gxu.edu.cn.

PMID: 35839674
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.06.115

Abstract

Despite the remarkable research efforts, the lack of ideal activity and state-of-the-art electrocatalysts remains a substantial challenge for the global application of fuel cell technology. Herein, is reported the synthesis of Au@PtNiAu concave octahedral core-shell nanocatalysts (Au@PtNiAu-COCS) via solvothermal synthesis modification and optimization approach. The special structure generating a large number of step atoms, enhancing the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) activity and stability. The superior ORR mass activity of the Au@PtNiAu-COCS is 11.22 times than the exhibited of Pt/C initially by Pt loading, and 5.11 times by Pt + Au loading. After 30 k cycles the mass activity remains 78.8% (8.83 times the initial Pt/C activity) and the half-wave potential only shifts 12 mV. Au@PtNiAu-COCS has superior half-cell activity and gives ideal membrane electrode assemblies. Furthermore, for MOR the Au@PtNiAu-COCS show enhanced anti-toxic (tolerant) ability in CO. This work provides a new strategy to develop core-shell structure nanomaterials for electrocatalysis.

Keywords: Concave octahedral core-shell; Methanol oxidation reaction; Oxygen reduction reaction; Proton exchange membrane fuel cells; Solvothermal synthesis.

MeSH terms

Carbon* / chemistry
Electrodes
Metal Nanoparticles* / chemistry
Oxidation-Reduction
Protons

Substances

Protons
Carbon