electrolytes, have received considerable attention. PAFCs are best suited for stationary power with combined heat and power, and have high overall efficiency and long system lifetimes, while PEMFCs are typically used in automobiles and portable electronics because of their compact size, light weight, high power density, and low operating temperature. [5,6] However, critical components in both PAFCs and PEMFCs, including electrodes, membranes, and catalysts, are still being intensively developed to resolve serious issues in performance, cost, and durability. The latest development plan for fuel cells from the U.S. Department of Energy suggests that more durable and stable catalysts for PAFCs will be necessary to ensure prolonged operation with less cost. [7] Also, the durability and cost of PEMFCs must be improved for commercialization in lightduty vehicles (Figure 1a). This is due in part to costly Pt catalysts, which comprise a significant fraction of the total production cost of PEMFCs (Figure 1b). [8] Overall, more highly efficient and robust Pt-based catalysts are essential to ensure wider use of clean and sustainable hydrogen fuel cell systems.

No abstract

Pt impregnated into the RuO2 phase assisted by oxophilic Co suppresses the over-oxidation of Ru during water electrooxidation under acidic conditions.

Nanocrystals with multiple compositions and heterointerfaces have received great attention due to promising multifunctional and synergistic physicochemical properties. In particular, heterointerfaces have been at the focal point of nanocatalyst research because the strain caused by lattice mismatches between different phases is the dominant determinant of surface energy and catalytic activity. The ensemble effects of different material phases have also contributed to the interest in heterointerfaced multicomponent materials. Until now, heterointerfaces have largely been regarded as static, and the dynamic movement of components within the multicomponent material phases has received little attention, although the dynamic movement of individual components within multicomponent materials can revise the interpretation of the catalytic behaviors of these materials and lead to fascinating opportunities for nanostructure synthesis. In this study, we demonstrate unprecedented cation migrations within a sulfide matrix induced by surface strain modulation initiated by cation exchange. Specifically, Cu and Ag cations in the sulfide matrix were initially segregated to form a Janus structure. This Janus configuration was then transformed into a core−shell Cu 2−x S@ Ag 2 S structure via surface Pt doping. When the surface strain was relieved by a reduced Pt concentration at the nanoparticle surface, the core−shell transitioned back into a Janus structure. We expect that the facile composition fluctuations in multiphasic nanostructures will expand synthetic methodologies for the design and synthesis of intricate nanostructures with useful physicochemical properties.

This review addresses recent developments in Pt–Cu based catalysts toward various energy conversion electrocatalytic applications such as the HER, ORR, MOR, EGOR and FAOR.