Carbon-anchoring synthesis of Pt1Ni1@Pt/C core-shell catalysts for stable oxygen reduction reaction

Proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells demand highly efficient catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction, and core-shell structures are known for maximizing precious metal utilization. Here, we reported a controllable “carbon defect anchoring” strategy to prepare Pt₁Ni₁@Pt/C core-shell nanoparticles with an average size of ~2.6 nm on an in-situ transformed defective carbon support. The strong Pt–C interaction effectively inhibits nanoparticle migration or aggregation, even after undergoing stability tests over 70,000 potential cycles, resulting in only 1.6% degradation. The stable Pt₁Ni₁@Pt/C catalysts have high oxygen reduction reaction mass activity and specific activity that reach 1.424 ± 0.019 A/mg_Pt and 1.554 ± 0.027 mA/cm_Pt² at 0.9 V, respectively, attributed to the optimal compressive strain. The experimental results are generally consistent with the theoretical predictions made by our comprehensive microkinetic model which incorporates essential kinetics and thermodynamics of oxygen reduction reaction. The consistent results obtained in our study provide compelling evidence for the high accuracy and reliability of our model. This work highlights the synergy between theory-guided catalyst design and appropriate synthetic methodologies to translate the theory into practice, offering valuable insights for future catalyst development.