Dealloyed PdAg core Pt monolayer shell electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract

A core–shell nanostructure (Pt–PdAg/C–D) with dealloyed PdAg nanoparticles (PdAg/C–D) as the core and a Pt monolayer as the shell is prepared and employed as an electrocatalyst toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Compared with its counterpart alloyed PdAg core-Pt monolayer shell catalyst (Pt–PdAg/C), the Pt–PdAg/C–D catalyst shows significantly higher catalytic activities for ORR. The half wave potential (E_1/2) on Pt–PdAg/C–D is located at −0.17 V, which is comparable to that on the commercial Pt/C catalyst and ca. 30 mV more positive than that on Pt–PdAg/C. The MSA of Pt in Pt–PdAg/C–D is 171.8 A g_Pd+Pt⁻¹, which is 3.2 and 2.4 times higher than those of Pt–PdAg/C and commercial Pt/C catalysts, respectively. The Pt monolayer shell on the surface of the nanoparticles would induce much higher utilization of Pt atoms, and the dealloying process would result in a nanostructured PdAg core with a rough surface and a Pt shell with a numbers of low-coordinated atoms. It is concluded that the change in the electronic and geometric structure of Pt in the Pt–PdAg/C–D catalyst may contribute to the increase in catalytic performance for ORR.