Issue 24, 2015

Synthesis and structural evolution of Pt nanotubular skeletons: revealing the source of the instability of nanostructured electrocatalysts

Abstract

The durability of Pt catalysts in polymer membrane electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs) is critical to successful implementation of this clean energy technology in transportation and stationary applications. Despite reports on a variety of Pt nanostructures with improved durability, a clear understanding of the structure–durability relationship is still missing as a rigorous correlative investigation is lacking. Using five-fold twinned Pd nanowires as templates, we have prepared Pt nanotubular skeleton structures which duplicate the crystal structure of the template. By comparing the durability of these structures with commercial Pt/C catalysts and Pt nanotubes, we found that grain boundaries in Pt nanocatalysts contribute most to the instability of the catalyst structures. These results not only highlight a strategy to prepare more durable fuel cell catalysts, but also provide a new method to prepare elongated Pt catalysts with controlled crystal structures, which together will perpetuate the commercial success of this green energy conversion technology.

Graphical abstract: Synthesis and structural evolution of Pt nanotubular skeletons: revealing the source of the instability of nanostructured electrocatalysts

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 Feb 2015
Accepted
13 Apr 2015
First published
13 Apr 2015

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015,3, 12663-12671

Synthesis and structural evolution of Pt nanotubular skeletons: revealing the source of the instability of nanostructured electrocatalysts

R. Wang, D. C. Higgins, S. Prabhudev, D. U. Lee, J. Choi, M. A. Hoque, G. A. Botton and Z. Chen, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, 3, 12663 DOI: 10.1039/C5TA01503K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements