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The Ligand Effect: CO Desorption from Pt/Ru Catalysts
Author(s) -
Davies J. C.,
Bonde J.,
Logadóttir Á.,
Nørskov J. K.,
Chorkendorff I.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
fuel cells
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.485
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1615-6854
pISSN - 1615-6846
DOI - 10.1002/fuce.200400076
Subject(s) - catalysis , desorption , chemistry , ligand (biochemistry) , fuel cells , chemical engineering , materials science , inorganic chemistry , adsorption , organic chemistry , receptor , biochemistry , engineering
Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations of the adsorption energy of CO, for a platinum overlayer on Ru(0001), have been performed. For all coverages a significant reduction in the binding energy of up to 0.5 eV has been observed compared to that obtained on Pt(111). In addition, a Steady‐State Isotopic Transient Kinetic Analysis (SSITKA) study has been performed to determine the desorption rate dependence on the partial pressure of CO over commercial Pt/Ru electrocatalysts. As expected, no significant difference in the rate of exchange of CO at any given pressure is observed on going from Pt to Pt/Ru electrocatalysts when the diluted gas used was argon since the CO states will be filled to the same desorption energy for the two catalysts. However on changing the diluent gas to hydrogen, a reduction in the exchange rate for CO is observed clearly reflecting the lower CO binding energy and the increased competition for sites at the surface of the catalyst. The reduction efficiency of the Pt/Ru electrocatalyst was also studied and found to be highly dependent on whether CO or hydrogen was used. These results will be discussed with reference to the anode catalysis of the Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC).