Grain boundary engineering for efficient and durable electrocatalysis.


Journal

Nature communications
ISSN: 2041-1723
Titre abrégé: Nat Commun
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101528555

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
02 Oct 2024
Historique:
received: 14 03 2024
accepted: 25 09 2024
medline: 3 10 2024
pubmed: 3 10 2024
entrez: 2 10 2024
Statut: epublish

Résumé

Grain boundaries in noble metal catalysts have been identified as critical sites for enhancing catalytic activity in electrochemical reactions such as the oxygen reduction reaction. However, conventional methods to modify grain boundary density often alter particle size, shape, and morphology, obscuring the specific role of grain boundaries in catalytic performance. This study addresses these challenges by employing gold nanoparticle assemblies to control grain boundary density through the manipulation of nanoparticle collision frequency during synthesis. We demonstrate a direct correlation between increased grain boundary density and enhanced two-electron oxygen reduction reaction activity, achieving a significant improvement in both specific and mass activity. Additionally, the gold nanoparticle assemblies with high grain boundary density exhibit remarkable electrochemical stability, attributed to boron segregation at the grain boundaries, which prevents structural degradation. This work provides a promising strategy for optimizing the activity, selectivity, and stability of noble metal catalysts through precise grain boundary engineering.

Identifiants

pubmed: 39358376
doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-52919-w
pii: 10.1038/s41467-024-52919-w
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Pagination

8534

Informations de copyright

© 2024. The Author(s).

Références

Kibsgaard, J. & Chorkendorff, I. Considerations for the scaling-up of water splitting catalysts. Nat. Energy 4, 430–433 (2019).
doi: 10.1038/s41560-019-0407-1
He, T. et al. Mastering the surface strain of platinum catalysts for efficient electrocatalysis. Nature 598, 76–81 (2021).
pubmed: 34616058 doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03870-z
Huang, W. et al. Steam-created grain boundaries for methane C–H activation in palladium catalysts. Science 373, 1518–1523 (2021).
pubmed: 34554810 doi: 10.1126/science.abj5291
Li, C. W., Ciston, J. & Kanan, M. W. Electroreduction of carbon monoxide to liquid fuel on oxide-derived nanocrystalline copper. Nature 508, 504–507 (2014).
pubmed: 24717429 doi: 10.1038/nature13249
Li, Z. et al. A silver catalyst activated by stacking faults for the hydrogen evolution reaction. Nat. Catal. 2, 1107–1114 (2019).
doi: 10.1038/s41929-019-0365-9
Mariano, R. G. et al. Microstructural origin of locally enhanced CO2 electroreduction activity on gold. Nat. Mater. 20, 1000–1006 (2021).
pubmed: 33737727 doi: 10.1038/s41563-021-00958-9
Mariano, R. G., McKelvey, K., White, H. S. & Kanan, M. W. Selective increase in CO2 electroreduction activity at grain-boundary surface terminations. Science 358, 1187–1192 (2017).
pubmed: 29191908 doi: 10.1126/science.aao3691
Wang, L. et al. Tunable intrinsic strain in two-dimensional transition metal electrocatalysts. Science 363, 870–874 (2019).
pubmed: 30792302 doi: 10.1126/science.aat8051
Yoo, S.-H. et al. Dopant evolution in electrocatalysts after hydrogen oxidation reaction in an alkaline environment. ACS Energy Lett. 8, 3381–3386 (2023).
pubmed: 37588014 pmcid: 10425978 doi: 10.1021/acsenergylett.3c00842
Kim, S. H. et al. Controlled doping of electrocatalysts through engineering impurities. Adv. Mater. 34, 2203030 (2022).
doi: 10.1002/adma.202203030
Podjaski, F. et al. Rational strain engineering in delafossite oxides for highly efficient hydrogen evolution catalysis in acidic media. Nat. Catal. 3, 55–63 (2020).
doi: 10.1038/s41929-019-0400-x
Gsell, M., Jakob, P. & Menzel, D. Effect of substrate strain on adsorption. Science 280, 717–720 (1998).
pubmed: 9563943 doi: 10.1126/science.280.5364.717
Mavrikakis, M., Hammer, B. & Nørskov, J. K. Effect of strain on the reactivity of metal surfaces. Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 2819 (1998).
doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.2819
Zhu, E. et al. Enhancement of oxygen reduction reaction activity by grain boundaries in platinum nanostructures. Nano Res. 13, 3310–3314 (2020).
doi: 10.1007/s12274-020-3007-2
Kabiraz, M. K. et al. Understanding the grain boundary behavior of bimetallic platinum–cobalt alloy nanowires toward oxygen electro-reduction. ACS Catal. 12, 3516–3523 (2022).
doi: 10.1021/acscatal.1c05766
Chattot, R. et al. Surface distortion as a unifying concept and descriptor in oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysis. Nat. Mater. 17, 827–833 (2018).
pubmed: 30013055 pmcid: 6109589 doi: 10.1038/s41563-018-0133-2
Dubau, L., Nelayah, J., Asset, T., Chattot, R. l. & Maillard, F. d. r. Implementing structural disorder as a promising direction for improving the stability of PtNi/C nanoparticles. ACS Catal. 7, 3072–3081 (2017).
Dubau, L. et al. Defects do catalysis: CO monolayer oxidation and oxygen reduction reaction on hollow PtNi/C nanoparticles. ACS Catal. 6, 4673–4684 (2016).
doi: 10.1021/acscatal.6b01106
Xia, C., Xia, Y., Zhu, P., Fan, L. & Wang, H. Direct electrosynthesis of pure aqueous H2O2 solutions up to 20% by weight using a solid electrolyte. Science 366, 226–231 (2019).
pubmed: 31601767 doi: 10.1126/science.aay1844
Seh, Z. W. et al. Combining theory and experiment in electrocatalysis: Insights into materials design. Science 355, eaad4998 (2017).
pubmed: 28082532 doi: 10.1126/science.aad4998
Yang, S. et al. Toward the decentralized electrochemical production of H2O2: a focus on the catalysis. Acs Catal. 8, 4064–4081 (2018).
doi: 10.1021/acscatal.8b00217
Zhang, Z. et al. One-pot synthesis of highly anisotropic five-fold-twinned PtCu nanoframes used as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction and methanol oxidation. Adv. Mater. 28, 8712–8717 (2016).
pubmed: 27511958 doi: 10.1002/adma.201603075
Kim, S.-H. et al. Understanding alkali contamination in colloidal nanomaterials to unlock grain boundary impurity engineering. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 144, 987–994 (2022).
pubmed: 34982554 pmcid: 8778649 doi: 10.1021/jacs.1c11680
Da Rosa, G. et al. Grain-boundary segregation of boron in high-strength steel studied by nano-SIMS and atom probe tomography. Acta Mater. 182, 226–234 (2020).
doi: 10.1016/j.actamat.2019.10.029
Tytko, D. et al. Microstructural evolution of a Ni-based superalloy (617B) at 700 C studied by electron microscopy and atom probe tomography. Acta Mater. 60, 1731–1740 (2012).
doi: 10.1016/j.actamat.2011.11.020
Feng, B. et al. Atomically ordered solute segregation behaviour in an oxide grain boundary. Nat. Commun. 7, 11079 (2016).
pubmed: 27004614 pmcid: 4814580 doi: 10.1038/ncomms11079
Yang, C., Wang, Y., Sigle, W. & van Aken, P. A. Determination of grain-boundary structure and electrostatic characteristics in a SrTiO3 bicrystal by four-dimensional electron microscopy. Nano Lett. 21, 9138–9145 (2021).
pubmed: 34672612 pmcid: 8587898 doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c02960
Moglianetti, M. et al. Citrate-coated, size-tunable octahedral platinum nanocrystals: a novel route for advanced electrocatalysts. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 10, 41608–41617 (2018).
pubmed: 30404443 doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b11774
Matter, F., Luna, A. L. & Niederberger, M. From colloidal dispersions to aerogels: How to master nanoparticle gelation. Nano Today 30, 100827 (2020).
doi: 10.1016/j.nantod.2019.100827
Zhang, H. & Banfield, J. F. Energy calculations predict nanoparticle attachment orientations and asymmetric crystal formation. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 3, 2882–2886 (2012).
doi: 10.1021/jz301161j
Zhu, C. et al. Facile synthesis of gold wavy nanowires and investigation of their growth mechanism. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134, 20234–20237 (2012).
pubmed: 23210644 doi: 10.1021/ja3091214
Grimmer, H., Bollmann, W. & Warrington, D. Coincidence-site lattices and complete pattern-shift in cubic crystals. Acta Crystallogr. A Cryst. Phys. Diffr. Theor. Gen. Crystallogr. 30, 197–207 (1974).
doi: 10.1107/S056773947400043X
Song, M. et al. Oriented attachment induces fivefold twins by forming and decomposing high-energy grain boundaries. Science 367, 40–45 (2020).
pubmed: 31780624 doi: 10.1126/science.aax6511
Ophus, C. et al. Automated crystal orientation mapping in py4DSTEM using sparse correlation matching. Microsc. Microanal. 28, 390–403 (2022).
doi: 10.1017/S1431927622000101
Barth, J. V., Brune, H., Ertl, G. & Behm, R. Scanning tunneling microscopy observations on the reconstructed Au (111) surface: Atomic structure, long-range superstructure, rotational domains, and surface defects. Phys. Rev. B 42, 9307 (1990).
doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.42.9307
Durand, W. J., Peterson, A. A., Studt, F., Abild-Pedersen, F. & Nørskov, J. K. Structure effects on the energetics of the electrochemical reduction of CO2 by copper surfaces. Surf. Sci. 605, 1354–1359 (2011).
doi: 10.1016/j.susc.2011.04.028
Hansen, H. A., Varley, J. B., Peterson, A. A. & Nørskov, J. K. Understanding trends in the electrocatalytic activity of metals and enzymes for CO2 reduction to CO. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 4, 388–392 (2013).
pubmed: 26281729 doi: 10.1021/jz3021155
Kaandorp, J. A., Lowe, C. P., Frenkel, D. & Sloot, P. M. Effect of nutrient diffusion and flow on coral morphology. Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 2328 (1996).
pubmed: 10061916 doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.2328
Chakraborti, R. K., Gardner, K. H., Atkinson, J. F. & Van Benschoten, J. E. Changes in fractal dimension during aggregation. Water Res. 37, 873–883 (2003).
pubmed: 12531269 doi: 10.1016/S0043-1354(02)00379-2
Geng, X. et al. Grain‐boundary‐rich noble metal nanoparticle assemblies: synthesis, characterization, and reactivity. Adv. Funct. Mater. 32, 2204169 (2022).
doi: 10.1002/adfm.202204169
Calle-Vallejo, F. et al. Finding optimal surface sites on heterogeneous catalysts by counting nearest neighbors. Science 350, 185–189 (2015).
pubmed: 26450207 doi: 10.1126/science.aab3501
Tian, X. et al. Engineering bunched Pt-Ni alloy nanocages for efficient oxygen reduction in practical fuel cells. Science 366, 850–856 (2019).
pubmed: 31727830 doi: 10.1126/science.aaw7493
Gao, J. et al. Enabling direct H2O2 production in acidic media through rational design of transition metal single atom catalyst. Chem. 6, 658–674 (2020).
doi: 10.1016/j.chempr.2019.12.008
Tang, L. et al. Electrochemical stability of nanometer-scale Pt particles in acidic environments. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132, 596–600 (2010).
pubmed: 20017546 doi: 10.1021/ja9071496
Tang, L., Li, X., Cammarata, R. C., Friesen, C. & Sieradzki, K. Electrochemical stability of elemental metal nanoparticles. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132, 11722–11726 (2010).
pubmed: 20669944 doi: 10.1021/ja104421t
Huang, L. et al. Advanced platinum-based oxygen reduction electrocatalysts for fuel cells. Acc. Chem. Res. 54, 311–322 (2021).
pubmed: 33411505 doi: 10.1021/acs.accounts.0c00488
Perry, S. C. et al. Electrochemical synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from water and oxygen. Nat. Rev. Chem. 3, 442–458 (2019).
doi: 10.1038/s41570-019-0110-6
Li, M. et al. Ultrafine jagged platinum nanowires enable ultrahigh mass activity for the oxygen reduction reaction. Science 354, 1414–1419 (2016).
pubmed: 27856847 doi: 10.1126/science.aaf9050
Buban, J. et al. Grain boundary strengthening in alumina by rare earth impurities. Science 311, 212–215 (2006).
pubmed: 16410521 doi: 10.1126/science.1119839
Kontis, P. et al. On the effect of boron on grain boundary character in a new polycrystalline superalloy. Acta Mater. 103, 688–699 (2016).
doi: 10.1016/j.actamat.2015.10.006

Auteurs

Xin Geng (X)

Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials, Düsseldorf, Germany. x.geng@mpie.de.

Miquel Vega-Paredes (M)

Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials, Düsseldorf, Germany.

Zhenyu Wang (Z)

Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials, Düsseldorf, Germany. z.wang@mpie.de.

Colin Ophus (C)

National Center for Electron Microscopy, Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.

Pengfei Lu (P)

School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Yan Ma (Y)

Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands.

Siyuan Zhang (S)

Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials, Düsseldorf, Germany.

Christina Scheu (C)

Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials, Düsseldorf, Germany.

Christian H Liebscher (CH)

Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials, Düsseldorf, Germany.

Baptiste Gault (B)

Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials, Düsseldorf, Germany. b.gault@mpie.de.
Department of Materials, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London, London, UK. b.gault@mpie.de.

Classifications MeSH