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Dense Niobium Oxide Coating on Carbon Black as a Support to Platinum Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction
Author(s) -
Jasim Ahmed M.,
Xu Gan,
AlSalihi Sara,
Xing Yangchuan
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemistryselect
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 34
ISSN - 2365-6549
DOI - 10.1002/slct.202003225
Subject(s) - electrocatalyst , oxide , niobium , niobium oxide , platinum , materials science , electrochemistry , carbon black , coating , catalysis , inorganic chemistry , chemical engineering , chemistry , electrode , nanotechnology , metallurgy , composite material , organic chemistry , natural rubber , engineering
Carbon black (CB) is commonly used to support Pt as an electrocatalyst in fuel cells. However, it is easily corroded in electrochemical reactions, such as in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), leading to catalyst degradation. In this paper, we report results of protecting the CB using an ultrathin 5 nm film of niobium oxide conformally coated on the CB using a new coating technique. Electrochemical test in ORR shows only a 1.7 % activity loss after 5000 cycles, demonstrating an excellent durability of the electrocatalyst. Compared to the electrocatalyst without niobium oxide coating, it shows a 25 mV improvement in half‐wave potentials, indicative of a better kinetics. A positive shift in binding energy was found in Pt 4 f, implying electron delocalization has occurred when Pt is interfaced with the niobium oxide support. The activity enhancement is attributed to the electronic structure change in the electrocatalyst as a result of metal‐support interactions.