Surface engineering of Pd-based nanoparticles by gas treatment for oxygen reduction reaction

• Published in: The Korean journal of chemical engineering Vol. 37; no. 8; pp. 1360 - 1364
• Main Authors: Jeffery, A. Anto, Lee, Sang-Young, Min, Jiho, Kim, Youngjin, Lee, Seunghyun, Lee, Jin Hee, Jung, Namgee, Yoo, Sung Jong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-08-2020; Springer Nature B.V; 한국화학공학회
• Subjects: Alloy development; Alloy systems; Alloys; Atomic properties; Biotechnology; Carbon monoxide; Catalysis; Catalysts; Catalytic activity; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composition; Fuel cells; Gold; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Materials Science; Morphology; Nanoalloys; Nanoparticles; Oxygen reduction reactions; Palladium; 화학공학; Metal Alloy; Oxygen Reduction Reaction; Surface Composition; CO-induced Surface Segregation; Catalyst
• ISSN: 0256-1115; 1975-7220
• DOI: 10.1007/s11814-020-0586-2

In many catalyst systems, including fuel cell applications, control of the catalyst surface composition is important for improving activity since catalytic reactions occur only at the surface. However, it is very difficult to modify the surface composition without changing the morphology of metal nanoparticles. Herein, carbon-supported Pd
3
Au
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nanoparticles with uniform size and distribution are fabricated by tert-butylamine reduction method. Pd or Au surface segregation is induced by simply heating as-prepared Pd
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Au
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nanoparticles under CO or Ar atmosphere, respectively. Especially, CO-induced Pd surface segregation allows the alloy nanoparticles to have a Pd-rich surface, which is attributed to the strong CO binding energy of Pd. To demonstrate the change in surface composition of Pd
3
Au
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alloy catalyst with the annealing gas species, the oxygen reduction reaction performance is investigated and consequently, Pd
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Au
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catalyst with the highest number of surface Pd atoms indicates excellent catalytic activity. Therefore, the present work provides insights into the development of metal-based alloys with optimum structures and surface compositions for various catalytic systems.