Platinum-Dysprosium Alloys as Oxygen Electrodes in Alkaline Media: An Experimental and Theoretical Study

Jadranka Milikić; Nikola Nikolić; Diogo M F Santos; Daniele Macciò; Adriana Saccone; Mabkhoot Alsaiari; Mohammed Jalalah; M Faisal; Farid A Harraz; Yizhao Li; Abu Bakr Nassr; Igor Pašti; Biljana Šljukić

doi:10.3390/nano12142318

Platinum-Dysprosium Alloys as Oxygen Electrodes in Alkaline Media: An Experimental and Theoretical Study

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 Jul 6;12(14):2318. doi: 10.3390/nano12142318.

Authors

Jadranka Milikić¹, Nikola Nikolić¹, Diogo M F Santos², Daniele Macciò³, Adriana Saccone³, Mabkhoot Alsaiari^{4

5}, Mohammed Jalalah^{4

6}, M Faisal⁴, Farid A Harraz^{4

7}, Yizhao Li⁸, Abu Bakr Nassr⁹, Igor Pašti¹, Biljana Šljukić^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Physical Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 12-16, 11158 Belgrade, Serbia.
² Center of Physics and Engineering of Advanced Materials, Laboratory for Physics of Materials and Emerging Technologies, Chemical Engineering Department, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal.
³ Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale (DCCI), Università Degli Studi di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 31, I-16146 Genova, Italy.
⁴ Promising Centre for Sensors and Electronic Devices (PCSED), Advanced Materials and Nano-Research Centre, Najran University, Najran 11001, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Empty Quarter Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Arts at Sharurah, Najran University, Najran 61441, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Najran University, Najran 61441, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology Department, Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute (CMRDI), Cairo 11421, Egypt.
⁸ Yangtze Delta Region Institute (Huzhou), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Huzhou 313001, China.
⁹ Electronic Materials Research Department, Advanced Technology and New Materials Research Institute (ATNMRI), City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA-City), New Borg Al-Arab City 21934, Egypt.

Abstract

Platinum-dysprosium (Pt-Dy) alloys prepared by the arc melting technique are assessed as potential electrodes for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) using voltammetry and chronoamperometry in alkaline media. A relatively small change (10 at.%) in the alloy composition brought a notable difference in the alloys' performance for the ORR. Pt₄₀Dy₆₀ electrode, i.e., the electrode with a lower amount of Pt, was identified to have a higher activity towards ORR as evidenced by lower overpotential and higher current densities under identical experimental conditions. Furthermore, DFT calculations point out the unique single-atom-like coordination and electronic structure of Pt atoms in the Pt₄₀Dy₆₀ surface as responsible for enhanced ORR activity compared to the alloy with a higher Pt content. Additionally, Pt-Dy alloys showed activity in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), with the OER current density lower than that of pure Pt.

Keywords: DFT analysis; fuel cells; local coordination; oxygen evolution reaction; oxygen reduction reaction; platinum–dysprosium alloys.

Abstract

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