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The effect of particle proximity on the oxygen reduction rate of size-selected platinum clusters

Nature Materials volume 12, pages 919–924 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

The diminished surface-area-normalized catalytic activity of highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles compared with bulk Pt is particularly intricate, and not yet understood. Here we report on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of well-defined, size-selected Pt nanoclusters; a unique approach that allows precise control of both the cluster size and coverage, independently. Our investigations reveal that size-selected Pt nanoclusters can reach extraordinarily high ORR activities, especially in terms of mass-normalized activity, if deposited at high coverage on a glassy carbon substrate. It is observed that the Pt cluster coverage, and hence the interparticle distance, decisively influence the observed catalytic activity and that closely packed assemblies of Pt clusters approach the surface activity of bulk Pt. Our results open up new strategies for the design of catalyst materials that circumvent the detrimental dispersion effect, and may eventually allow the full electrocatalytic potential of Pt nanoclusters to be realized.

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Figure 1: Maximum achieved ORR activities.
Figure 2: Specific activity versus edge-to-edge distance.
Figure 3: Representative SEM micrographs of Pt> 46 nanoclusters supported on glassy carbon electrodes.
Figure 4: Nanocluster distribution before and after the activity measurements.
Figure 5: Simulated compact layer potential at different edge-to-edge distances.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Danish DFF through grant # 10-081337 and the German DFG through the Emmy Noether project Are852/1-1. The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of M. Thämer and A. Kartouzian for the preparation of the Pt20 samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 5, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark

    Markus Nesselberger, Melanie Roefzaad, Katrin Schloegl, Gustav K. H. Wiberg, Sean Ashton & Matthias Arenz

  2. Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Max-Planck-Straße 1, D-40237 Düsseldorf, Germany

    R. Fayçal Hamou, P. Ulrich Biedermann & Karl J. J. Mayrhofer

  3. Lehrstuhl für Physikalische Chemie, Zentralinstitut für Katalyseforschung, Technische Universität München, Lichtenbergstr. 4, D-85748 Garching, Germany

    Florian F. Schweinberger, Sebastian Kunz & Ueli Heiz

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  1. Markus Nesselberger
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Contributions

M.A., K.J.J.M. and S.K. designed and built the transfer chamber. S.K., F.F.S. and U.H. designed the cluster experiment and deposited the cluster samples. M.R. performed the SEM measurements. M.A. and K.J.J.M. designed the electrochemical measurements. M.N., S.A, G.K.H.W., K.S. and M.R. performed and analysed the electrochemical measurements. R.F.H. and P.U.B. performed and analysed the computational modelling. M.A. wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Matthias Arenz.

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Nesselberger, M., Roefzaad, M., Fayçal Hamou, R. et al. The effect of particle proximity on the oxygen reduction rate of size-selected platinum clusters. Nature Mater 12, 919–924 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3712

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