Optimizing the Size of Platinum Nanoparticles for Enhanced Mass Activity in the Electrochemical Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Batyr Garlyyev, Kathrin Kratzl, Marlon Rück, Jan Michalička, Johannes Fichtner, Jan M. Macak, Tim Kratky, Sebastian Günther, Mirza Cokoja, Aliaksandr S. Bandarenka, Alessio Gagliardi, Roland A. Fischer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

105 Scopus citations

Abstract

High oxygen reduction (ORR) activity has been for many years considered as the key to many energy applications. Herein, by combining theory and experiment we prepare Pt nanoparticles with optimal size for the efficient ORR in proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells. Optimal nanoparticle sizes are predicted near 1, 2, and 3 nm by computational screening. To corroborate our computational results, we have addressed the challenge of approximately 1 nm sized Pt nanoparticle synthesis with a metal–organic framework (MOF) template approach. The electrocatalyst was characterized by HR-TEM, XPS, and its ORR activity was measured using a rotating disk electrode setup. The observed mass activities (0.87±0.14 A mgPt−1) are close to the computational prediction (0.99 A mgPt−1). We report the highest to date mass activity among pure Pt catalysts for the ORR within similar size range. The specific and mass activities are twice as high as the Tanaka commercial Pt/C catalysis.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)9596-9600
Number of pages5
JournalAngewandte Chemie International Edition in English
Volume58
Issue number28
DOIs
StatePublished - 8 Jul 2019

Keywords

  • mass activity prediction
  • metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)
  • oxygen reduction reaction
  • platinum
  • size effect

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