Unique Activity of Platinum Adislands in the CO Electrooxidation Reaction
- 22 October 2008
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in Journal of the American Chemical Society
- Vol. 130 (46), 15332-15339
- https://doi.org/10.1021/ja8032185
Abstract
The development of electrocatalytic materials of enhanced activity and efficiency through careful manipulation, at the atomic scale, of the catalyst surface structure has long been a goal of electrochemists. To accomplish this ambitious objective, it would be necessary both to obtain a thorough understanding of the relationship between the atomic-level surface structure and the catalytic properties and to develop techniques to synthesize and stabilize desired active sites. In this contribution, we present a combined experimental and theoretical study in which we demonstrate how this approach can be used to develop novel, platinum-based electrocatalysts for the CO electrooxidation reaction in CO(g)-saturated solution; the catalysts show activities superior to any pure-metal catalysts previously known. We use a broad spectrum of electrochemical surface science techniques to synthesize and rigorously characterize the catalysts, which are composed of adisland-covered platinum surfaces, and we show that highly undercoordinated atoms on the adislands themselves are responsible for the remarkable activity of these materials.Keywords
This publication has 55 references indexed in Scilit:
- High-density electrosorbed carbon monoxide monolayers on Pt(111) under atmospheric pressurePhysical Review B, 2007
- X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy of Low Temperature Fuel Cell CatalystsChemical Reviews, 2004
- Role of Crystalline Defects in Electrocatalysis: CO Adsorption and Oxidation on Stepped Platinum Electrodes As Studied by in situ Infrared SpectroscopyThe Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2002
- Surface science studies of model fuel cell electrocatalystsSurface Science Reports, 2002
- Cooxidation on stepped Pt[n(111)×(111)] electrodesJournal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 2000
- In-situ STM characterisation of the surface morphology of platinum single crystal electrodes as a function of their preparationJournal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 2000
- Surface Electrochemistry of CO and H2/CO Mixtures at Pt(100) Interface: Electrode Kinetics and Interfacial StructuresThe Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 1999
- Fuel cells and their developmentPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 1996
- Catalytic oxidation of CO on Pt(335): A study of the active siteThe Journal of Chemical Physics, 1993
- A theory of the catalytic surfaceProceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character, 1925