Platinum catalysts strained controllably

The most straightforward experimental verifications of the theoretical frameworks and associated approximations have been obtained with model surface systems in which layers of platinum atoms are grown under ultrahigh vacuum conditions on a single crystal of another metal, so that the platinum atoms...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 2021-10, Vol.598 (7879), p.35-37
Main Author: Brimaud, Sylvain
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atomic structure
Atoms & subatomic particles
Catalysts
Catalytic activity
Chemical elements
Compressive properties
Crystal lattices
Electrochemistry
Electrolysis
Electrolytic cells
Epitaxial growth
Fuel cells
Fuel technology
Heavy metals
Hydrogen
Hydrogen evolution reactions
Metals
Methanol
Nanoparticles
Oxidation
Palladium
Platinum
Single crystals
Substrates
Tensile strain
Thin films
Ultrahigh vacuum
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Summary:The most straightforward experimental verifications of the theoretical frameworks and associated approximations have been obtained with model surface systems in which layers of platinum atoms are grown under ultrahigh vacuum conditions on a single crystal of another metal, so that the platinum atoms adopt the crystal lattice of the substrate (epitaxial growth). Because the platinum atoms adopt the interatomic distances of the substrate lattice, rather than the atoms' preferred interatomic distances, the thin film of platinum is subjected to strain - either compressive or tensile strain, depending on the mismatch between the normal lattices of the two metals. The authors then probed the effects of strain on the catalytic activity of the platinum shells in two model electrochemical reactions - the methanol oxidation reaction and the hydrogen-evolution reaction, which are of practical interest in methanol fuel cells and in water electrolysis, respectively. A limitation of He and co-workers' approach is that it cannot exclude the possibility that the observed reaction rates are driven by a small number of lattice heterogeneities or defect sites at the platinum surface8 that are not representative of the atomic structure of the majority of the shell.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/d41586-021-02640-1