Projects per year
Abstract
The development of effective and inexpensive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts for future renewable energy systems is highly desired. Platinum-based materials are the most active electrocatalysts for catalyzing HER, but reducing the use of Pt is required because of the high price and scarcity of Pt. Here, we achieve pseudo-atomic-scale dispersion of Pt, i.e. individual atoms or subnanometer clusters, on the sidewalls of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with a simple and readily upscalable electroplating deposition method. These SWNTs activated with an ultralow amount of Pt exhibit activity similar to that of commercial Pt/C with a notably higher (∼66–333-fold) Pt loading for catalyzing the HER under the acidic conditions required in proton exchange membrane technology. These catalysts resemble pseudo-atomic-scale Pt systems which are mainly composed of a few to tens of Pt atoms dispersed on the sidewalls of the SWNTs. The Pt loading is only 0.19–0.75 atom % at the electrode surface, and characteristic peaks for Pt cyclic voltammograms are undetectable. The atomic dispersion increases the portion of the surface active-atom sites, and therefore, notably lower Pt loading is needed to attain a high catalytic activity. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest higher ability for SWNTs, in comparison to graphene, as a catalyst support for immobilizing Pt atoms, thus providing an atomic dispersion. Moreover, a high HER activity for the SWNTs activated with Pt atoms, similar to that of bulk Pt, is predicted.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 3121–3130 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | ACS Catalysis |
Volume | 7 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2017 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Keywords
- carbon nanotube
- DFT calculation
- electroplating
- hydrogen evolution
- pseudo-atomic-scale Pt
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Electrochemical Activation of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes with Pseudo-Atomic-Scale Platinum for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Finished
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Sustainable platinum group metal free catalyst materials
Laasonen, K., Cilpa-Karhu, G., Lappalainen, H., Mäkinen, M. & Weckman, T.
01/09/2015 → 31/12/2019
Project: Academy of Finland: Other research funding
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Rational design of non-noble metal (electro)catalyst materials for energy conversion applications
Laasonen, K., Kronberg, R., Pakkanen, O. & Ali, F.
01/01/2015 → 31/12/2018
Project: Academy of Finland: Other research funding
Equipment
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Raw Materials Research Infrastructure
Maarit Karppinen (Manager)
School of Chemical TechnologyFacility/equipment: Facility
Press / Media
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Promising results obtained with a new electrocatalyst that reduces the need for platinum
Tanja Kallio, Kari Laasonen, Jani Sainio, Mohammad Tavakkoli, Hua Jiang & Esko Kauppinen
23/03/2017
2 items of Media coverage
Press/Media: Media appearance