Sub-Monolayer SbOx on PtPb/Pt Nanoplate Boosts Direct Formic Acid Oxidation Catalysis

Xinrui Hu; Zhengchao An; Weizhen Wang; Xin Lin; Ting-Shan Chan; Changhong Zhan; Zhiwei Hu; Zhiqing Yang; Xiaoqing Huang; Lingzheng Bu

doi:10.1021/jacs.3c04580

Sub-Monolayer SbO_x on PtPb/Pt Nanoplate Boosts Direct Formic Acid Oxidation Catalysis

J Am Chem Soc. 2023 Sep 6;145(35):19274-19282. doi: 10.1021/jacs.3c04580. Epub 2023 Aug 16.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
² Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China.
³ College of Energy, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.
⁴ National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan.
⁵ College of Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Nothnitzer Strasse 40, Dresden 01187, Germany.
⁶ Ji Hua Laboratory, Foshan 528200, China.

PMID: 37585588
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c04580

Abstract

To promote the commercialization of direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC), it is vital to explore new types of direct formic acid oxidation (FAOR) catalysts with high activity and direct pathway. Here, we report the synthesis of intermetallic platinum-lead/platinum nanoplates inlaid with sub-monolayer antimony oxide surface (PtPb/Pt@sub-SbO_x NPs) for efficient catalytic applications in FAOR. Impressively, they can achieve the remarkable FAOR specific and mass activities of 28.7 mA cm^-2 and 7.2 A mg_Pt^-1, which are 151 and 60 times higher than those of the state-of-the-art commercial Pt/C, respectively. Furthermore, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy results collectively reveal the optimization of the local coordination environment by the surface sub-monolayer SbO_x, along with the electron transfer from Pb and Sb to Pt, driving the predominant dehydrogenation process. The sub-monolayer SbO_x on the surface can effectively attenuate the CO generation, largely improving the FAOR performance of PtPb/Pt@sub-SbO_x NPs. This work develops a class of high-performance Pt-based anodic catalyst for DFAFC via constructing the unique intermetallic core/sub-monolayer shell structure.