Surfactant-Free Platinum-on-Gold Nanodendrites with Enhanced Catalytic Performance for Oxygen Reduction

摘要

Platinum and its alloys play important roles in many industrial applications, such as CO/NO_x oxidation in catalytic converters, synthesis of nitric acid, oil cracking, and fuel cells. In particular, platinum has been the most effective catalyst in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) owing to its outstanding electrocatalytic characteristics, which facilitate both hydrogen oxidation and oxygen reduction. Although carbon-supported platinum nanoparticles are currently used as cathode catalysts in fuel-cell technology, the commercialization of this technology for automotive applications still requires more economical and effective catalytic materials that can operate with a much smaller amount of expensive platinum.