Sandwiched Graphene Interdiffusion Barrier for Preserving Au@Pt Atomically Thin Core@Shell Structure and the Resulting Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalytic Activity.

The concept of a core-shell metallic structures, with a few atomic layers of the "shell" metal delineated from the "core" metal with atomic sharpness opens the door to a multitude of surface-driven materials properties that can be tuned. However, in practice, such architectures are difficult to retain due to the entropic cost of a segregated near-surface architecture, and the core and surface atoms inevitably mix through interdiffusion over time. We present here a systematic study of interdiffusion in a Pt on Au core-shell architecture and the role of an interrupting single layer of graphene sandwiched between them.