Catalysis of the Oxygen Reduction Reaction on Bimetallic PtCu Nanostructures

Poster Division: Engineering, Math, and Physical Sciences: 1st Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)We describe the design and synthesis of Pt-Cu electrocatalysts with well-defined, tunable morphology and composition. Electron microscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface analysis indicate our catalysts have extremely high porosity, which acts to maximize mass transport, increase active surface area, and minimize the overall precious metal content. Production of these catalysts is quite facile and begins with synthesis of a porous Cu substrate, formed by etching Al from a Cu-Al alloy. The porous Cu substrate is then coated with a Pt layer via galvanic replacement with K2PtCl4. Growth of the Pt layer is manipulated by time, temperature, concentration of K2PtCl4, and convection rate during galvanic replacement. Data from inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) confirm multiple Pt loadings have been achieved via the galvanic replacement process. The Pt layer was found to enhance the oxygen reduction activity 30%-75% relative to the current state-of-the-art Pt/C catalyst and act as a barrier towards corrosion of the Cu understructure. The high ORR activity obtained indicates that high catalytic activity could potentially be achieved from fine-tuning this technique for other bimetallic Pt-based catalysts.A one-year embargo was granted for this item