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Shape and structural effects of R5-templated Pd nanomaterials as potent catalyst for oxygen electroreduction in alkaline media

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Abstract

Bio-inspired metal nanomaterials are receiving increasing research attentions in catalytic field recently, while peptide-based method represents new revenues to fabricate stable and reactive catalyst under mild and environmental friendly conditions. Among all kinds of noble metals, peptide-based palladium nanomaterials have demonstrated excellent catalytic capabilities in a variety of organic reactions. However, their electrocatalytic properties have not been systematically studied. Herein, R5-templated Pd nanomaterials have been fabricated and employed as potent catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The shape and morphology of these Pd nanomaterials were manipulated by tuning the metal-to-R5 ratio. The as-prepared Pd nanomaterials demonstrated excellent ORR activity in alkaline media. R5-Pd-90 exhibited the best activity which is superior than commercial Pt/C, in terms of onset potential, diffusion-limited current density as well as long-term stability. The correlation between the shape and/or morphology of the peptide-templated Pd nanomaterials and their ORR activity has been successfully established.

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Acknowledgements

Z. H. T acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21501059), Project of Public Interest Research and Capacity Building of Guangdong Province (2015A010105009), Guangdong Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholars (No. 2015A030306006) as well as Guangdong Innovative and Entrepreneurial Research Team Program (No. 2014ZT05N200). S. W. C. thanks the National Science Foundation for partial support of the work (CHE-1265635 and DMR-1409396).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangzhou Key Laboratory for Surface Chemistry of Energy Materials, New Energy Research Institute, School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Hongyu Yang, Zhenghua Tang, Likai Wang, Qiannan Wang, Wei Yan, Wen Wu & Shaowei Chen

  2. Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, CAEP, P. O. Box 919-217, Mianyang, 621900, Sichuan, China

    Chengwei Wen

  3. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment and Pollution Control, Guangdong Provincial Engineering and Technology Research Center for Environmental Risk Prevention and Emergency Disposal, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Zhenghua Tang

  4. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA

    Shaowei Chen

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  1. Hongyu Yang
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  2. Chengwei Wen
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  3. Zhenghua Tang
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Correspondence to Zhenghua Tang or Shaowei Chen.

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10853_2017_1004_MOESM1_ESM.docx

Supplementary material 1 Electron transfer number comparison calculated by different methods, UV–visible absorbance, size distribution histogram of PdNPs, LSV curves of R5-templated Pd nanomaterials at the rotation rates of 100–2500 rpm, K–L plots, Tafel plots, ECSA tests and mass activity comparison with commercial Pt/C. (DOCX 1169 kb)

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Yang, H., Wen, C., Tang, Z. et al. Shape and structural effects of R5-templated Pd nanomaterials as potent catalyst for oxygen electroreduction in alkaline media. J Mater Sci 52, 8016–8026 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-1004-y

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