Electrocatalyst supports bonding/interaction

In a carbon-supported metal electrocatalyst, the electronic interaction between metal and carbon support has a significant effect on its electrochemical performance [4], For carbon-supported Pt electrocatalyst, carbon could accelerate the electron transfer at the electrode-electrolyte interface, leading to an accelerated electrode process. Typically, the electrons are transferred from platinum clusters to the oxygen species on the surfece of a carbon support material and the chemical bond formation or the charge transfer process occurs at the contacting phase, which is considered to be beneficial to the enhancement of the catalytic properties in terms of activity and stability of the electrocatalysts. Experimentally, the investigation into the electron interaction between metal catalyst and support materials could be realized by various physical, spectroscopic, and electrochemical approaches. The electron donation behavior of Pt to carbon support materials has been demonstrated by the electron spin resonance (ESR) X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies, with the conclusion that the electron interaction between Pt and carbon support depends on their Fermi level of electrons. It is considered that the electronic structure change of Pt on carbon support induced by the electron interaction has positive effect toward the enhancement of the catalytic properties and the improvement of the stability of the electrocatalyst system. However, the exact quantitative relationship between electronic interaction of carbon-supported catalyst and its electrocatalytic performance is still not yet fully established [4]. [Pg.58]

In the carbon-supported, Pt catalyst, the interaction is attributed to the presence of a Pt-support electronic effect. The specific metal-support interaction is through the electron transfer from the Pt clusters to the oxygen atoms of the surface of the support [222]. In many cases, chemical bonds are formed or charge transfer takes place between the contacting phases. The Pt-carbon support interaction is considered to be beneficial to the enhancement of the catalytic properties and to improve the stability of the electrocatalyst [223, 224]. [Pg.701]