Topotactic Transformations in an Icosahedral Nanocrystal to Form Efficient Water‐Splitting Catalysts

Study Summary

We developed Pt/Ni-doped RuO₂ new catalysis nano particle. This RuO₂-based frame shell with its highly reactive surfaces leads to a very high activity for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acidic media, reaching a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at an overpotential of 239 mV, which shows ~ 15 times better catalytic activity from those of previously reported catalysts. The Pt dopant in the RuO₂ shell enables a sustained OER activity even after a 2000 cycles of an accelerated durability test. To study on the formation mechanism of Pt/Ni-doped RuO₂, we performed high spatial[0.06nm] elemental mapping and crystal structure analysis using High Spatial Resolution Transmission Microscope[Double Cs (s)TEM] installed at KBSI-Seoul.

• Figure 1. Structural and compositional characterization of PNR nanocrystals (a) Structural illustrations of a PNR (b) STEM, and EDS elemental mapping images (C) Lattice deformation mapping in PNR by geometric phase analysis.
• Figure 2. OER activity and durability of catalysts [h-PNRO/C] (a) OER polarization curves (b) Over potentials curves (c) Bar graph of the over potentials (d) OER polarization curves before and after 2000 cycles (e) Bright-field TEM image after the OER ADT

Expected Effects

Mass production and Long life time catalysis in the field of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Battery after further study on durability and stability.

ㅇ DOI : https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201970002