Hollow platinum tetrapods: using a combination of {111} facets, surface concave topology, and ultrathin walls to boost their oxygen reduction reactivity. Issue 19 (5th May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Mengmeng; Yang, Anzhou; Wang, Siyuan; Wang, Yingzi; Huang, Qiuzi; Cai, Bingfeng; Qiu, Xiaoyu; Tang, Yawen
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 9:Issue 19(2021)
• Page Start: 11537
• Page End: 11544
• Publication Date: 2021-05-05
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/d1ta01950c
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : Hollow Pt tetrapods with {111} facets, surface concave topology, and ultrathin walls exhibit superior electro-catalytic activity and stability towards the acidic oxygen reduction reaction. Abstract : Hollow nanocages with ultrathin walls and specific configurations have been reported to have stellar performances towards various catalytic reactions owing to their high atom utilization efficiency and well-defined facets/architectures. Herein, we for the first time report a facile synthesis of ultrathin Pt hollow tetrapods (HTPs) that consist of four nanothorn-like ultralong branches with an average wall thickness of six atomic layers. Based on seed-mediated growth on Pd tetrapods, we systematically evaluated the factors for conformal deposition of Pt skin to ensure that the {111} facets and surface concave topology of Pd tetrapods could be well-preserved after subsequent Pd etching. The resultant ultrathin Pt HTPs show a superior electro-catalytic activity and stability for the acidic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), with E onset of 1.014 V, E 1/2 of 0.836 V, and a specific activity of 0.804 mA cm −2 at 0.90 V, outperforming those of the Pd@Pt6L core–shell tetrapods and Pt/C. Specifically, (i) the ultrathin Pt hollow skin guarantees a high metal utilization; (ii) the uniform {111} facets, porosity, and inhomogeneous surface distribution of defects/steps point to a large specific activity; (iii) the self-sustentive four-angle skeleton sustains long-range electro-catalytic stability.