Sandwiching intermetallic Pt3Fe and ionomer with porous N-doped carbon layers for oxygen reduction reaction
Abstract Proton exchange membrane fuel cells show great potential as power source for automobiles, yet are now facing technological challenges of low efficiency in the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction and severe degradation from Nafion ionomers. Herein, we report the design and construction of a c...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58116-7 |
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| author | Xiaoqing Cao Hongyu Guo Ying Han Menggang Li Changshuai Shang Rui Zhao Qizheng Huang Ming Li Qinghua Zhang Fan Lv Hao Tan Zhengyi Qian Mingchuan Luo Shaojun Guo |
| author_facet | Xiaoqing Cao Hongyu Guo Ying Han Menggang Li Changshuai Shang Rui Zhao Qizheng Huang Ming Li Qinghua Zhang Fan Lv Hao Tan Zhengyi Qian Mingchuan Luo Shaojun Guo |
| author_sort | Xiaoqing Cao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Proton exchange membrane fuel cells show great potential as power source for automobiles, yet are now facing technological challenges of low efficiency in the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction and severe degradation from Nafion ionomers. Herein, we report the design and construction of a core/shell nanoparticle, composing of Pt3Fe intermetallic nanoparticle as core and atomically-thin porous N-doped carbon layer as shell, to alleviate Nafion ionomer poisoning and local oxygen transport at the interfaces, thereby improving the performance of membrane electrode assemblies. Combining electrochemical, spectroscopic and calculation results verify that the sandwiching carbon layer can effectively prevent surface Pt active sites from poisoning by ionomers. Moreover, this deliberate design facilitates a more homogeneous distribution of ionomers in catalyst layer, and drives a H2-air fuel cell peak power density up to 1.0 W cm-2. Due to the configuration-induced strong Fe-N coordination, our unique catalyst efficiently preserves transition metals and consequently delivers a notable fuel cell durability at a constant potential of 0.5 V for 100 h. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fa19a803fa8b4b659347b5195fd27cde |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-fa19a803fa8b4b659347b5195fd27cde2025-08-20T02:41:34ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-03-0116111010.1038/s41467-025-58116-7Sandwiching intermetallic Pt3Fe and ionomer with porous N-doped carbon layers for oxygen reduction reactionXiaoqing Cao0Hongyu Guo1Ying Han2Menggang Li3Changshuai Shang4Rui Zhao5Qizheng Huang6Ming Li7Qinghua Zhang8Fan Lv9Hao Tan10Zhengyi Qian11Mingchuan Luo12Shaojun Guo13School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking UniversityCollege of Physics and Electronic Information Engineering & Key Laboratory of Low-dimensional Structural Physics and Application, Education Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guilin University of TechnologyBeijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of SciencesSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking UniversityAbstract Proton exchange membrane fuel cells show great potential as power source for automobiles, yet are now facing technological challenges of low efficiency in the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction and severe degradation from Nafion ionomers. Herein, we report the design and construction of a core/shell nanoparticle, composing of Pt3Fe intermetallic nanoparticle as core and atomically-thin porous N-doped carbon layer as shell, to alleviate Nafion ionomer poisoning and local oxygen transport at the interfaces, thereby improving the performance of membrane electrode assemblies. Combining electrochemical, spectroscopic and calculation results verify that the sandwiching carbon layer can effectively prevent surface Pt active sites from poisoning by ionomers. Moreover, this deliberate design facilitates a more homogeneous distribution of ionomers in catalyst layer, and drives a H2-air fuel cell peak power density up to 1.0 W cm-2. Due to the configuration-induced strong Fe-N coordination, our unique catalyst efficiently preserves transition metals and consequently delivers a notable fuel cell durability at a constant potential of 0.5 V for 100 h.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58116-7 |
| spellingShingle | Xiaoqing Cao Hongyu Guo Ying Han Menggang Li Changshuai Shang Rui Zhao Qizheng Huang Ming Li Qinghua Zhang Fan Lv Hao Tan Zhengyi Qian Mingchuan Luo Shaojun Guo Sandwiching intermetallic Pt3Fe and ionomer with porous N-doped carbon layers for oxygen reduction reaction Nature Communications |
| title | Sandwiching intermetallic Pt3Fe and ionomer with porous N-doped carbon layers for oxygen reduction reaction |
| title_full | Sandwiching intermetallic Pt3Fe and ionomer with porous N-doped carbon layers for oxygen reduction reaction |
| title_fullStr | Sandwiching intermetallic Pt3Fe and ionomer with porous N-doped carbon layers for oxygen reduction reaction |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sandwiching intermetallic Pt3Fe and ionomer with porous N-doped carbon layers for oxygen reduction reaction |
| title_short | Sandwiching intermetallic Pt3Fe and ionomer with porous N-doped carbon layers for oxygen reduction reaction |
| title_sort | sandwiching intermetallic pt3fe and ionomer with porous n doped carbon layers for oxygen reduction reaction |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58116-7 |
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