Ashley Brew

PtM overlayers (where M=Fe, Co or Ni) supported on Pt{111} are prepared via thermal annealing in either a nitrogen/water or hydrogen ambient of dilute aqueous droplets containing M^Z+ cations directly attached to the electrode. Two different PtM phases are detected depending on the nature of the post-annealing cooling environment. The first of these consists of small (<20 nm), closely packed microcrystals comprised of a central metallic core and a shell (several monolayers thick) of mixed metal oxides/hydroxides. The second type of PtM phase is prepared by cooling in a stream of hydrogen gas. Although this second phase also consists of numerous microcrystals covering the Pt{111} electrode surface, these are both flatter than before and moreover are entirely metallic in character. A positive shift in the onset of PtM oxide formation correlates with increased activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which we ascribe to the greater availability of platinum metallic sites under ORR conditions.

The voltammetry of Pt{111}, Pt{100}, Pt{110} and Pt{311} single crystal electrodes as a function of perchloric acid concentration (0.05–2.00 M) has been studied in order to test the assertion made in recent reports by Watanabe et al. that perchlorate anions specifically adsorb on polycrystalline platinum. Such an assertion would have significant ramifications for our understanding of electrocatalytic processes at platinum surfaces since perchlorate anions at low pH have classically been assumed not to specifically adsorb. For Pt{111}, it is found that OH_ad and electrochemical oxide states are both perturbed significantly as perchloric acid concentration is increased. We suggest that this is due to specific adsorption of perchlorate anions competing with OH_ad for adsorption sites. The hydrogen underpotential deposition (H UPD) region of Pt{111} however remains unchanged although evidence for perchlorate anion decomposition to chloride on Pt{111} is reported. In contrast, for Pt{100} no variation in the onset of electrochemical oxide formation is found nor any shift in the potential of the OH_ad state which normally results from the action of specifically adsorbing anions. This suggests that perchlorate anions are non-specifically adsorbed on this plane although strong changes in all H UPD states are observed as perchloric acid concentration is increased. This manifests itself as a redistribution of charge from the H UPD state situated at more positive potential to the one at more negative potential. For Pt{110} and Pt{311}, marginal changes in the onset of electrochemical oxide formation are recorded, associated with specific adsorption of perchlorate. Specific adsorption of perchlorate anions on Pt{111} is deleterious to electrocatalytic activity in relation to the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) as measured using a rotating disc electrode (RDE) in a hanging meniscus configuration. This study supports previous work suggesting that a large component of the ORR activity on platinum is governed by simple site blocking by specifically adsorbed anions and/or electrosorbed oxide.