Angewandte Chemie - International Edition
Angewandte Chemie - International Edition
5 years ago

The Effect of Surface Site Ensembles on the Activity and Selectivity of Ethanol Electrooxidation by Octahedral PtNiRh Nanoparticles

The Effect of Surface Site Ensembles on the Activity and Selectivity of Ethanol Electrooxidation by Octahedral PtNiRh Nanoparticles
Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski, Nina Erini, Manuel Gliech, Marc Heggen, Martin Gocyla, Peter Strasser, Vera Beermann
Direct ethanol fuel cells are attractive power sources based on a biorenewable, high energy-density fuel. Their efficiency is limited by the lack of active anode materials which catalyze the breaking of the C−C bond coupled to the 12-electron oxidation to CO2. We report shape-controlled PtNiRh octahedral ethanol oxidation electrocatalysts with excellent activity and previously unachieved low onset potentials as low as 0.1 V vs. RHE, while being highly selective to complete oxidation to CO2. Our comprehensive characterization and in situ electrochemical ATR studies suggest that the formation of a ternary surface site ensemble around the octahedral Pt3Ni1Rhx nanoparticles plays a crucial mechanistic role for this behavior. It's the shape, that matters: The efficient and complete electrooxidation of ethanol at low overpotentials has been a prime research target for a long time. The unique combination of a ternary Pt-Ni-Rh ensembles on defined octahedral {111} facets now shows promising activity coupled with good selectivity in this transformation.

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1002/anie.201702332

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