Design of ternary nanoalloy catalysts: Effect of nanoscale alloying and structural perfection on electrocatalytic enhancement

The ability to tune the atomic-scale structural and chemical ordering in nanoalloy catalysts is essential for achieving the ultimate goal of high activity and stability of catalyst by design. This article demonstrates this ability with a ternary nanoalloy of platinum with vanadium and cobalt for oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells. The strategy is to enable nanoscale alloying and structural perfection through oxidative-reductive thermochemical treatments. The structural manipulation is shown to produce a significant enhancement in the electrocatalytic activity of the ternary nanoalloy catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction. Mass activities as high as 1 A/mg of Pt have been achieved by this strategy based on direct measurements of the kinetic currents from rotating disk electrode data. Using a synchrotron high-energy X-ray diffraction technique coupled with atomic pair function analysis and X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy as well as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the atomic-scale structural and chemical ordering in nanoalloy catalysts prepared by the oxidative-reductive thermochemical treatments were examined. A phase transition has been observed, showing an fcc-type structure of the as-prepared and the lower-temperature-treated particles into an fct-type structure for the particles treated at the higher temperature. The results reveal a thermochemically driven evolution of the nanoalloys from a chemically disordered state into chemically ordered state with an enhanced degree of alloying. The increase in the chemical ordering and shrinking of interatomic distances as a result of thermochemical treatment at increased temperature is shown to increase the catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction, exhibiting an optimal activity at 600 °C. It is the alloying and structural perfection that allows the optimization of the catalytic performance in a controllable way, highlighting the significant role of atomic-scale structural and chemical ordering in the design of nanoalloy catalysts.