Work

Gold–Copper Aerogels with Intriguing Surface Electronic Modulation as Highly Active and Stable Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction and Borohydride Oxidation

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: We, for the first time, report the successful synthesis of self‐assembled AuCu aerogels by a one‐pot kinetically controlled approach. A startling electronic modulation effect of Cu on Au was observed across the entire alloy composition range, for which the optimal upshift of the d‐band center for the highest activities was 0.24 eV. Owing to the combination of a nanoporous architecture and a robust electronic effect, the Au52Cu48 aerogels exhibited better catalytic performance for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the direct borohydride oxidation reaction (BOR) than commercial Pt/C catalysts. The specific and mass ORR activities were 4.5 and 6.3 times higher, respectively, on the Au52Cu48 aerogels than on Pt/C with negligible activity decay even after 10 000 cycles and a duration of 40 000 s. For the BOR, the Au52Cu48 aerogels also exhibited far better selectivity and activity than Pt/C. The new AuCu aerogels show great potential as a promising alternative for Pt‐based catalysts in fuel cells.

Source: ChemSusChem

DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201800052

Authors: Jiali Wang, Fuyi Chen, Yachao Jin, Roy L. Johnston

Institutions: Northwestern Polytechnical University, State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, University of Birmingham

Language: English

Topic: Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion

Subfield: Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Field: Energy

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Affordable and clean energy

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China