Conformational Effects of Pt-Shells on Nanostructures and Corresponding Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity of Au-Cluster-Decorated NiOx@Pt Nanocatalysts

Bhalothia, Dinesh; Fan, Yu-Jui; Lai, Yen-Chun; Yang, Ya-Tang; Yang, Yaw-Wen; Lee, Chih-Hao; Chen, Tsan-Yao

doi:10.3390/nano9071003

Open AccessArticle

Conformational Effects of Pt-Shells on Nanostructures and Corresponding Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity of Au-Cluster-Decorated NiO_x@Pt Nanocatalysts

by

Dinesh Bhalothia

^1,2,†

,

Yu-Jui Fan

^3,†,

Yen-Chun Lai

^2,4,

Ya-Tang Yang

¹,

Yaw-Wen Yang

⁴,

Chih-Hao Lee

²

and

Tsan-Yao Chen

^2,5,6,7,*

¹

Institute of Electronics Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan

²

Department of Engineering and System Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan

³

School of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan

⁴

National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu 30007, Taiwan

⁵

Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan

⁶

Hierarchical Green-Energy Materials (Hi-GEM) Research Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan

⁷

Higher Education Sprout Project, Competitive Research Team, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Nanomaterials 2019, 9(7), 1003; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9071003

Submission received: 5 June 2019 / Revised: 8 July 2019 / Accepted: 9 July 2019 / Published: 11 July 2019

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Solution Synthesis, Processing, and Applications of Semiconducting Nanomaterials)

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Abstract

Herein, ternary metallic nanocatalysts (NCs) consisting of Au clusters decorated with a Pt shell and a Ni oxide core underneath (called NPA) on carbon nanotube (CNT) support were synthesized by combining adsorption, precipitation, and chemical reduction methods. By a retrospective investigation of the physical structure and electrochemical results, we elucidated the effects of Pt/Ni ratios (0.4 and 1.0) and Au contents (2 and 9 wt.%) on the nanostructure and corresponding oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of the NPA NCs. We found that the ORR activity of NPA NCs was mainly dominated by the Pt-shell thickness which regulated the depth and size of the surface decorated with Au clusters. In the optimal case, NPA-1004006 (with a Pt/Ni of 0.4 and Au of ~2 wt.%) showed a kinetic current (J_K) of 75.02 mA cm⁻² which was nearly 17-times better than that (4.37 mA cm⁻²) of the commercial Johnson Matthey-Pt/C (20 wt.% Pt) catalyst at 0.85 V vs. the reference hydrogen electrode. Such a high J_K value resulted in substantial improvements in both the specific activity (by ~53-fold) and mass activity (by nearly 10-fold) in the same benchmark target. Those scenarios rationalize that ORR activity can be substantially improved by a syngeneic effect at heterogeneous interfaces among nanometer-sized NiO_x, Pt, and Au clusters on the NC surface.

Keywords: oxygen reduction reaction; nanocatalysts; carbon nanotube; wet-chemical reduction method; Au-clusters; mass activity

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MDPI and ACS Style

Bhalothia, D.; Fan, Y.-J.; Lai, Y.-C.; Yang, Y.-T.; Yang, Y.-W.; Lee, C.-H.; Chen, T.-Y. Conformational Effects of Pt-Shells on Nanostructures and Corresponding Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity of Au-Cluster-Decorated NiO_x@Pt Nanocatalysts. Nanomaterials 2019, 9, 1003. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9071003

AMA Style

Bhalothia D, Fan Y-J, Lai Y-C, Yang Y-T, Yang Y-W, Lee C-H, Chen T-Y. Conformational Effects of Pt-Shells on Nanostructures and Corresponding Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity of Au-Cluster-Decorated NiO_x@Pt Nanocatalysts. Nanomaterials. 2019; 9(7):1003. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9071003

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bhalothia, Dinesh, Yu-Jui Fan, Yen-Chun Lai, Ya-Tang Yang, Yaw-Wen Yang, Chih-Hao Lee, and Tsan-Yao Chen. 2019. "Conformational Effects of Pt-Shells on Nanostructures and Corresponding Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity of Au-Cluster-Decorated NiO_x@Pt Nanocatalysts" Nanomaterials 9, no. 7: 1003. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9071003

APA Style

Bhalothia, D., Fan, Y.-J., Lai, Y.-C., Yang, Y.-T., Yang, Y.-W., Lee, C.-H., & Chen, T.-Y. (2019). Conformational Effects of Pt-Shells on Nanostructures and Corresponding Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity of Au-Cluster-Decorated NiO_x@Pt Nanocatalysts. Nanomaterials, 9(7), 1003. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9071003

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Conformational Effects of Pt-Shells on Nanostructures and Corresponding Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity of Au-Cluster-Decorated NiO_x@Pt Nanocatalysts

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