Article Title

Symmetric growth of Pt ultrathin nanowires from dumbbell nuclei for use as oxygen reduction catalysts

Authors

Qiangfeng Xiao, Optimal CAE Inc, 14492 Sheldon Road, Plymouth, MI 48170, USA
Mei Cai, General Motors Global Research and Development Center, 30500 Mound Road, Warren, MI 48090-9055, USA
Michael P. Balogh, General Motors Global Research and Development Center, 30500 Mound Road, Warren, MI 48090-9055, USA
Misle M. Tessema, Optimal CAE Inc, 14492 Sheldon Road, Plymouth, MI 48170, USA
Yunfeng Lu, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

Keywords

Nanowire, dumbbell, nanocube, chromium hexacarbonyl, fuel cell, oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract

ABSTRACT This work demonstrates the synthesis of Pt ultrathin nanowires assisted by chromium hexacarbonyl [Cr(CO)6]. The nanowires exhibit a uniform diameter of 2–3 nm. The length can reach up to several microns. It was found that Cr species produced dumbbell-like nuclei which play a pivotal role in the formation of the Pt nanowires. Such Pt nanowires can be tuned to nanocubes by simply decreasing the concentration of [Cr(CO)6]. Compared to a commercial Pt/C catalyst (45 wt%, Vulcan, Tanaka) and Pt black (fuel cell grade, Sigma), the synthesized Pt nanowires exhibit superior performance in electrocatalytic oxygen reduction with a specific activity of 0.368 mA/cm2, which was 2.7 and 1.8 times greater than that of Pt/C (0.138 mA/cm2) and Pt black (0.202 mA/cm2), respectively. The mass activity of Pt nanowires (0.088 mA/µg) is 2.3 times that of Pt black (0.038 mA/µg) and comparable to that of Pt/C (0.085 mA/µg).

Graphical Abstract

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-012-0191-8

Publisher

Tsinghua University Press

Recommended Citation

Qiangfeng Xiao,Mei Cai,Michael P. Balogh,Misle M. Tessema,Yunfeng Lu, Symmetric growth of Pt ultrathin nanowires from dumbbell nuclei for use as oxygen reduction catalysts. NanoRes.2012, 5(3): 145–151