The performance of extruded Pt catalyst reduced by 0.01 nm and increased by 90%

The research team of Stanford University reduced the platinum catalyst by 0.01 nm by bonding it with an ultra-thin material, which improved its catalytic performance by 90% This new method can be widely used in the field of clean energy and improve the efficiency of fuel cell The paper was published in the American journal Science on the 25th Lithium cobaltite metal catalyst can accelerate chemical reaction and reduce energy consumption Its catalytic performance is directly related to its internal electronic structure "The electronic structure of the catalyst needs to match the molecule in the catalytic reaction The new method can compress or stretch the atom, and adjust the electronic structure," explains Wang Yitian, the main author of the paper and a former Stanford graduate student (now working at Harvard University) Wang and his colleagues chose lithium cobaltite as the research object They stack several layers of lithium cobaltite together to form a battery like electrode When the lithium ion is charged away from the electrode, the electrode will expand by 0.01 nm When the discharge makes the lithium ion come back, the electrode will shrink to the original size In the subsequent experiments, they added several layers of platinum catalyst to the lithium cobalt oxide electrode Because the metal platinum can bond with the edge of lithium cobalt oxide through chemical bond, the catalyst can extend or contract 0.01 nm synchronously with the electrode during the charging and discharging process Wang said that 0.01 nm sounds small, but it can greatly improve the catalytic performance It is found that compression can enhance the catalytic activity of Pt and improve the performance of Pt in oxygen reduction by 90%, which is expected to greatly improve the efficiency of hydrogen fuel cell.