Nitrogen doping of carbon-supported electrocatalysts is known to lead to a performance boost, although the reason why has not been clearly understood. This fascinating Energy and Environmental Science article contributes to a greater understanding of the effect.
Using principal component analysis (PCA) of electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) data, scientists from the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO in the USA, have made a direct observation between spatial relationship between a carbon-supported metal catalyst nanoparticle and surface-adsorbed nitrogen.
The study correlates improved catalyst-support interactions with high substrate nitrogen content in the immediate proximity of stabilised nanoparticles. The insights are applied to a prototype methanol fuel cell, which benefits in terms of performance and long-term stability.
Read the full details of this exciting work today:
Nitrogen: Unraveling the secret to stable carbon-supported Pt-alloy electrocatalysts
Svitlana Pylypenko, Albina Borisevich, Karren L More, April Corpuz, Timothy Holme, Arrelaine Dameron, Timothy Olson, Huyen Dinh, Thomas Gennett and Ryan O’Hayre
DOI: 10.1039/C3EE40189H
