Island-in-Sea Structured Pt3Fe Nanoparticles-in-Fe Single Atoms Loaded in Carbon Materials as Superior Electrocatalysts toward Alkaline HER and Acidic ORR

Benteng Sun; Hang Lv; Qi Xu; Peiran Tong; Panzhe Qiao; He Tian; Haibing Xia

doi:10.1002/smll.202400240

Island-in-Sea Structured Pt₃Fe Nanoparticles-in-Fe Single Atoms Loaded in Carbon Materials as Superior Electrocatalysts toward Alkaline HER and Acidic ORR

Small. 2024 Apr 9:e2400240. doi: 10.1002/smll.202400240. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Benteng Sun¹, Hang Lv¹, Qi Xu², Peiran Tong², Panzhe Qiao³, He Tian², Haibing Xia¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, P. R. China.
² Center of Electron Microscope, State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, P. R. China.
³ Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, P. R. China.

PMID: 38593333
DOI: 10.1002/smll.202400240

Abstract

In this work, Pt₃Fe nanoparticles (Pt₃Fe NPs) with the ordered internal structure and Pt-rich shells surrounded by plenty of Fe single atoms (Fe SAs) as active species (Pt₃Fe NP-in-Fe SA) loaded in the carbon materials are successfully fabricated, which are abbreviated as island-in-sea structured (IISS) Pt₃Fe NP-in-Fe SA catalysts. Moreover, the synergistic effect of O-bridging between Pt₃Fe NPs and Fe SAs, and the ordered internal structured Pt₃Fe NPs with Pt-rich shells of an optimal thickness contributes to the achievement of the local acidic environments on the surfaces of Pt₃Fe NPs in the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the enhancement of the desorption rate of *OH intermediate in the acidic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In addition, the electronic interactions between Pt₃Fe NPs and dispersed Fe SAs cannot only provide efficient electrons transfer, but also prevent the aggregation and dissolution of Pt₃Fe NPs. Furthermore, the overpotential and the half wave potential of the as-prepared IISS Pt₃Fe NP-in-Fe SA catalysts toward the alkaline HER and toward the acidic ORR are 8 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm^-2 and 0.933 V, respectively, which is 29 lower and 86 mV higher than those (37 mV and 0.847 V) of commercial Pt/C catalysts.

Keywords: HER; ORR; O‐bridging; Pt3Fe nanoparticles; locally acidic environment.

Abstract

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