Simple Replacement Reaction for the Preparation of Ternary Fe1?xPtRux Nanocrystals with Superior Catalytic Activity in Methanol Oxidation Reaction.

D.-Y. Wang; H.-L. Chou; Y.-C. Lin; F.-J. Lai; C.-H. Chen; J.-F. Lee; B.-J. Hwang; Chia-Chun Chen

Simple Replacement Reaction for the Preparation of Ternary Fe1?xPtRux Nanocrystals with Superior Catalytic Activity in Methanol Oxidation Reaction.

Date

2012-06-20

Authors

D.-Y. Wang

H.-L. Chou

Y.-C. Lin

F.-J. Lai

C.-H. Chen

J.-F. Lee

B.-J. Hwang

Chia-Chun Chen

Publisher

American Chemical Society

Abstract

The finding of new metal alloyed nanocrystals (NCs) with high catalytic activity and low cost to replace PtRu NCs is a critical step toward the commercialization of fuel cells. In this work, a simple cation replacement reaction was utilized to synthesize a new type of ternary Fe1–xPtRux NCs from binary FePt NCs. The detailed structural transformation from binary FePt NCs to ternary Fe1–xPtRux NCs was analyzed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Ternary Fe35Pt40Ru25, Fe31Pt40Ru29, and Fe17Pt40Ru43 NCs exhibit superior catalytic ability to withstand CO poisoning in methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) than do binary NCs (FePt and J-M PtRu). Also, the Fe31Pt40Ru29 NCs had the highest alloying extent and the lowest onset potential among the ternary NCs. Furthermore, the origin for the superior CO resistance of ternary Fe1–xPtRux NCs was investigated by determining the adsorption energy of CO on the NCs’ surfaces and the charge transfer from Fe/Ru to Pt using a simulation based on density functional theory. The simulation results suggested that by introducing a new metal into binary PtRu/PtFe NCs, the anti-CO poisoning ability of ternary Fe1–xPtRux NCs was greatly enhanced because the bonding of CO–Pt on the NCs’ surface was weakened. Overall, our experimental and simulation results have indicated a simple route for the discovery of new metal alloyed catalysts with superior anti-CO poisoning ability and low usage of Pt and Ru for fuel cell applications.