Bimetallic nickel-molybdenum/tungsten nanoalloys for high-efficiency hydrogen oxidation catalysis in alkaline electrolytes.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32963247.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-18585-4 and PMC identifier 7508880.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Hydroxide exchange membrane fuel cells offer possibility of adopting platinum-group-metal-free catalysts to negotiate sluggish oxygen reduction reaction. Unfortunately, the ultrafast hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) on platinum decreases at least two orders of magnitude by switching the electrolytes from acid to base, causing high platinum-group-metal loadings. Here we show that a nickel-molybdenum nanoalloy with tetragonal MoNi<sub>4</sub> phase can catalyze the HOR efficiently in alkaline electrolytes. The catalyst exhibits a high apparent exchange current density of 3.41 milliamperes per square centimeter and operates very stable, which is 1.4 times higher than that of state-of-the-art Pt/C catalyst. With this catalyst, we further demonstrate the capability to tolerate carbon monoxide poisoning. Marked HOR activity was also observed on similarly designed WNi<sub>4</sub> catalyst. We attribute this remarkable HOR reactivity to an alloy effect that enables optimum adsorption of hydrogen on nickel and hydroxyl on molybdenum (tungsten), which synergistically promotes the Volmer reaction.