title: Spontaneous incorporation of gold in palladium-based ternary nanoparticles makes durable electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction.
abstract: Replacing platinum by a less precious metal such as palladium, is highly desirable for lowering the cost of fuel-cell electrocatalysts. However, the instability of palladium in the harsh environment of fuel-cell cathodes renders its commercial future bleak. Here we show that by incorporating trace amounts of gold in palladium-based ternary (Pd6CoCu) nanocatalysts, the durability of the catalysts improves markedly. Using aberration-corrected analytical transmission electron microscopy in conjunction with synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy, we show that gold not only galvanically replaces cobalt and copper on the surface, but also penetrates through the Pd-Co-Cu lattice and distributes uniformly within the particles. The uniform incorporation of Au provides a stability boost to the entire host particle, from the surface to the interior. The spontaneous replacement method we have developed is scalable and commercially viable. This work may provide new insight for the large-scale production of non-platinum electrocatalysts for fuel-cell applications.
authors.affiliation: Key laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage (Huazhong University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Deli
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage (Huazhong University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Sufen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage (Huazhong University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
authors.forename: Ruoqian
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: JEOL USA, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts 01960, USA.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9246-8764
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawasaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rus
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Katharine E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Silberstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lowe
authors.affiliation: Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9524-6908
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nordlund
authors.affiliation: Key laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage (Huazhong University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Hongfang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.|Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: David A
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4129-0473
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.affiliation: Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
authors.forename: Huolin L
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6521-868X
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Xin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Héctor D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Abruña