Atomic metal–non-metal catalytic pair drives efficient hydrogen oxidation catalysis in fuel cells

Wang，Qilun1,2; Wang，Huawei3; Cao，Hao4; Tung，Ching Wei5,6; Liu，Wei7; Hung，Sung Fu8; Wang，Weijue7; Zhu，Chun4,9; Zhang，Zihou3; Cai，Weizheng2; Cheng，Yaqi10; Tao，Hua Bing11; Chen，Hao Ming5; Wang，Yang Gang4; Li，Yujing3; Yang，Hong Bin12; Huang，Yanqiang7; Li，Jun4,13; Liu，Bin1

2023

10.1038/s41929-023-01017-z

Nature Catalysis   Impact Factor & Quartile

2520-1158

Rational design of efficient hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) electrocatalysts with maximum utilization of platinum-group metal sites is critical to hydrogen fuel cells, but remains a major challenge due to the formidable potential-dependent energy barrier for hydrogen intermediate (H*) desorption on single metal centres. Here we report atomically dispersed iridium–phosphorus (Ir–P) catalytic pairs with strong electronic coupling that integratively facilitate HOR kinetics, in which the reactive hydroxyl species adsorbed on the more oxophilic P site induces an alternative thermodynamic pathway to facilely combine with H* on the adjacent Ir atom, whereas isolated single-atom Ir catalysts are inactive. In H–O fuel cells, this catalyst enables a peak power density of 1.93 W cm and an anodic mass activity as high as 17.11 A mg at 0.9 V, significantly outperforming commercial Pt/C. This work not only advances the development of anodic catalysts for fuel cells, but also provides a precise and universal active-site design principle for multi-intermediate catalysis. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

English

Others

2-s2.0-85169156518

Scopus

1.Department of Materials Science and Engineering,City University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong
2.School of Chemistry,Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology,Nanyang Technological University,Singapore,Singapore
3.School of Materials Science and Engineering,Beijing Institute of Technology,Beijing,China
4.Department of Chemistry and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Catalytic Chemistry,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,China
5.Department of Chemistry,National Taiwan University,Taipei,Taiwan
6.Department of Materials Engineering,Ming Chi University of Technology,New Taipei City,Taiwan
7.Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Dalian,China
8.Department of Applied Chemistry,National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University,Hsinchu,Taiwan
9.Key Laboratory of Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry of Guizhou Province,Guizhou University,Guiyang,China
10.Department of Materials Science and Engineering,National University of Singapore,Singapore,Singapore
11.College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,Xiamen University,Xiamen,China
12.School of Materials Science and Engineering,Suzhou University of Science and Technology,Suzhou,China
13.Department of Chemistry and Engineering Research Center of Advanced Rare-Earth Materials of Ministry of Education,Tsinghua University,Beijing,China

Wang，Qilun,Wang，Huawei,Cao，Hao,等. Atomic metal–non-metal catalytic pair drives efficient hydrogen oxidation catalysis in fuel cells[J]. Nature Catalysis,2023.

Wang，Qilun.,Wang，Huawei.,Cao，Hao.,Tung，Ching Wei.,Liu，Wei.,...&Liu，Bin.(2023).Atomic metal–non-metal catalytic pair drives efficient hydrogen oxidation catalysis in fuel cells.Nature Catalysis.

Wang，Qilun,et al."Atomic metal–non-metal catalytic pair drives efficient hydrogen oxidation catalysis in fuel cells".Nature Catalysis (2023).