title: Pt-Pd-Co trimetallic alloy network nanostructures with superior electrocatalytic activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction.
abstract: Pt alloy nanostructures show great promise as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cell cathodes. Herein, three-dimensional (3D) Pt-Pd-Co trimetallic network nanostructures (TNNs) with a high degree of alloying are synthesized through a room temperature wet chemical synthetic method by using K2 PtCl4 /K3 Co(CN)6 -K2 PdCl4 /K3 Co(CN)6 mixed cyanogels as the reaction precursor in the absence of surfactants and templates. The size, morphology, and surface composition of the Pt-Pd-Co TNNs are investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), EDS mapping, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The 3D backbone structure, solid nature, and trimetallic properties of the mixed cyanogels are responsible for the 3D structure and high degree of alloying of the as-prepared products. Compared with commercially available Pt black, the Pt-Pd-Co TNNs exhibit superior electrocatalytic activity and stability towards the ORR, which is ascribed to their unique 3D structure, low hydroxyl surface coverage and alloy properties.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Centre of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023 (P.R. China).
authors.forename: Xinyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Gengtao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yawen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Peiliang
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: She
authors.forename: Tianhong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lu
keywords: alloys; cyanogels; electrocatalytic activity; oxygen reduction reaction; reduction; trimetallic alloys