Mixed-metal Pt monolayer electrocatalysts with improved CO tolerance.

Using a combination of periodic, self-consistent, density functional theory (DFT) calculations and CO-stripping voltammetry experiments, we have designed a new class of Pt-M bimetallic monolayer catalysts supported on a non-Pt metal, which exhibit improved stability against CO poisoning and might be suitable for proton-exchange membrane fuel cell anodes. These surfaces help in reducing the overpotential associated with anodic CO oxidation and minimize the amount of Pt used, thereby reducing materials cost. DFT calculations predict highly repulsive interactions between adsorbed CO molecules on these surfaces, leading to weaker binding and lower coverage of CO than on pure Pt, which in turn facilitates oxidative removal of CO from these catalytic surfaces.

Preferential CO oxidation in hydrogen: reactivity of core-shell nanoparticles.

We report on the first-principles-guided design, synthesis, and characterization of core-shell nanoparticle (NP) catalysts made of a transition metal core (M = Ru, Rh, Ir, Pd, or Au) covered with a approximately 1-2 monolayer thick shell of Pt atoms (i.e., a M@Pt core-shell NP).

Mixed-metal pt monolayer electrocatalysts for enhanced oxygen reduction kinetics.

We have synthesized a new class of electrocatalysts for the O2 reduction reaction, consisting of a mixed monolayer of Pt and another late transition metal (Ir, Ru, Rh, Re, or Os) deposited on a Pd(111) single crystal or on carbon-supported Pd nanoparticles. Several of these mixed monolayer electrocatalysts exhibited very high activity and increased stability of Pt against oxidation, as well as a 20-fold increase in a Pt mass-specific activity, compared with state-of-the-art all-Pt electrocatalysts. Their superior activity and stability reflect a low OH coverage on Pt, caused by the lateral repulsion between the OH adsorbed on Pt and the OH or O adsorbed on neighboring, other than Pt, late transition metal atoms.