PtFeCoNiCu high-entropy solid solution alloy as highly efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction

Tao Chen; Fanghua Ning; Jizhen Qi; Guang Feng; Yucheng Wang; Jin Song; Tonghuan Yang; Xi Liu; Liwei Chen; Dingguo Xia

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.105890

PtFeCoNiCu high-entropy solid solution alloy as highly efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction

iScience. 2022 Dec 28;26(1):105890. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105890. eCollection 2023 Jan 20.

Authors

Tao Chen¹, Fanghua Ning¹, Jizhen Qi², Guang Feng¹, Yucheng Wang³, Jin Song¹, Tonghuan Yang¹, Xi Liu⁴, Liwei Chen⁴, Dingguo Xia¹

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Key Laboratory of Theory and Technology for Advanced Batteries Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China.
² I-Lab, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, PR China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
⁴ In-situ Center for Physical Sciences, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200240, PR China.

Abstract

Searching for an efficient, durable, and low cost catalyst toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is of paramount importance for the application of fuel cell technology. Herein, PtFeCoNiCu high-entropy alloy nanoparticles (PFCNC-HEA) is reported as electrocatalyst toward ORR. It shows remarkable ORR catalytic mass activity of 1.738 A mg^-1 _Pt at 0.90 V, which is 15.8 times higher than that of the state-of-art commercial Pt/C catalyst. It also exhibits outstanding stability with negligible voltage decay (3 mV) after 10k cycles accelerated durability test. High ORR activity is ascribed to the ligand effect caused by polymetallic elements, the optimization of the surface electronic structure, and the formation of multiple active sites on the surface. In the proton exchange membrane fuel cell setup, this cell delivers a power density of up to 1.380 W cm^-2 with a cathodic Pt loading of 0.03 mg_Pt cm^-2, demonstrating a promising catalyst design direction for highly efficient ORR.

Keywords: Catalysis; Chemistry; Materials chemistry; Materials science; Materials synthesis.