Citation: Shaojie Lu, Dongsheng Ma, Zhenwen Li, Yiping Hu, Mingze Hao, Ruiming Liu, Lei Xiong, Qin Yue. Ultrafine Pt nanoclusters with rich pyri-N for high performance oxygen reduction reaction[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(11): 111505. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111505 shu

Ultrafine Pt nanoclusters with rich pyri-N for high performance oxygen reduction reaction

Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China

leixiong2018@163.com

qinyue@uestc.edu.cn

Received Date: 22 May 2025
Revised Date: 18 June 2025
Accepted Date: 25 June 2025
Available Online: 27 June 2025

Figures(4)

Strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) offers innovative strategies for designing efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) synergetic catalysts. Herein, an ultrafine platinum (Pt) cluster (∼2.2 nm) catalyst encapsulated with Pyri-N-rich graphene (Pt UC@NG-800) is developed within the angstrom-level (Å) interlayer cavities to improve the exposure and stabilization of Pt active sites as well as promote the O₂ adsorption and transfer. Consequently, Pt UC@NG-800 shows superior 4e^- ORR activity with half-wave potentials (E_1/2) of 0.99 V and 0.93 V (vs. RHE), which are enhanced by 110 mV and 80 mV compared to commercial Pt/C (20%) (0.88 V and 0.85 V) in alkaline and acidic media, respectively. Furthermore, the mass activity (MA) of Pt UC@NG-800 are 49.6 and 51.1 times higher than that of Pt/C in both media, respectively. After 50,000 accelerated durability tests and 120 h of long-term operation, Pt UC@NG-800 displays negligible degradation with ∆E_1/2 of 5 mV (alkaline) or 10 mV (acid) and little current fading in both alkaline and acid media, respectively, implying superior durability with enhanced resistance to Pt dissolution and carbon corrosion. This work presents a novel framework and practical approach for developing ultrafine cluster catalysts with highly stable and exposed active sites for superior ORR performance.
- Strong metal-support interactions (SMSI),
- Pyri-N-rich graphene,
- Ultrafine clusters,
- Oxygen reduction reaction,
- Durability
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沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院沈阳 110142