Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) on Electrodeposited Pt_(100-x-y)Ni_(x)Pd_(y) Thin Films.

Published

August 10, 2010

Author(s)

Sun M. Hwang, Chang H. Lee, Jae Jeong Kim, Thomas P. Moffat

Abstract

The kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) were examined on a series of Pt_(100-x-y)Ni_(x)Pd_(y) ternary alloys. Films were produced by electrodeposition that involved a combination of underpotential and overpotential reactions. For Pt-rich Pt_(100-x-y)Ni_(x)Pd_(y) alloy films (x<0.65) Ni co-deposition occurred at underpotentials while for Ni-rich films (x>0.65) deposition proceeded at overpotentials. Rotating disk electrode (RDE) measurements of the ORR kinetics on Ni-rich Pt_(100-x-y)Ni_(x)Pd_(y) thin films revealed up to a 6.5 fold enhancement of the catalytic activity relative to Pt films with the same Pt mass loading. More than half of the electrocatalytic gain maybe attributed to surface area expansion due to Ni dealloying. Surface area normalization based on the H_(upd) charge reduced the enhancement factor to a value less than 2. The most active ternary alloy film for ORR was Pt_(25)Ni_(73)Pd_(2). Comparison of the ORR on Pt, Pt_(20)Ni_(80), Pt_(25)Ni(73)Pd_(2) thin films indicate the binary alloy is the most active with a H_(upd) normalized ORR enhancement factor of up to 3.0 compared to 1.6 for the ternary alloy.

Citation

Electrochimica ACTA

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

electrodeposition, nickel, oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), palladium, Pt-based ternary alloy

Citation

Hwang, S. , Lee, C. , Kim, J. and Moffat, T. (2010), Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) on Electrodeposited Pt_(100-x-y)Ni_(x)Pd_(y) Thin Films., Electrochimica ACTA (Accessed October 14, 2025)