Noble metal

About: Noble metal is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 15113 publications have been published within this topic receiving 337947 citations.

Improved ethanol electrooxidation performance by shortening Pd–Ni active site distance in Pd–Ni–P nanocatalysts

Abstract: Incorporating oxophilic metals into noble metal-based catalysts represents an emerging strategy to improve the catalytic performance of electrocatalysts in fuel cells. However, effects of the distance between the noble metal and oxophilic metal active sites on the catalytic performance have rarely been investigated. Herein, we report on ultrasmall (∼5 nm) Pd–Ni–P ternary nanoparticles for ethanol electrooxidation. The activity is improved up to 4.95 A per mgPd, which is 6.88 times higher than commercial Pd/C (0.72 A per mgPd), by shortening the distance between Pd and Ni active sites, achieved through shape transformation from Pd/Ni–P heterodimers into Pd–Ni–P nanoparticles and tuning the Ni/Pd atomic ratio to 1:1. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the improved activity and stability stems from the promoted production of free OH radicals (on Ni active sites) which facilitate the oxidative removal of carbonaceous poison and combination with CH3CO radicals on adjacent Pd active sites. Incorporating oxophilic metals into noble metal catalysts can improve electrocatalytic performance; however, the influence of the distance between noble metal and oxophilic metal active site is not well understood. Here the authors make Pd–Ni–P nanocatalysts for ethanol oxidation, with improved performance achieved by shortening the Pd–Ni distance.

General Model for Water Monomer Adsorption on Close-Packed Transition and Noble Metal Surfaces

Abstract: Ab initio density functional theory has been used to investigate the adsorption of H2O on several close-packed transition and noble metal surfaces. A remarkably common binding mechanism has been identified. On every surface H2O binds preferentially at an atop adsorption site with the molecular dipole plane nearly parallel to the surface. This binding mode favors interaction of the H2O 1b(1) delocalized molecular orbital with surface wave functions.

Maximum noble-metal efficiency in catalytic materials: atomically dispersed surface platinum.

Abstract: Platinum is the most versatile element in catalysis, but it is rare and its high price limits large-scale applications, for example in fuel-cell technology. Still, conventional catalysts use only a small fraction of the Pt content, that is, those atoms located at the catalyst's surface. To maximize the noble-metal efficiency, the precious metal should be atomically dispersed and exclusively located within the outermost surface layer of the material. Such atomically dispersed Pt surface species can indeed be prepared with exceptionally high stability. Using DFT calculations we identify a specific structural element, a ceria "nanopocket", which binds Pt(2+) so strongly that it withstands sintering and bulk diffusion. On model catalysts we experimentally confirm the theoretically predicted stability, and on real Pt-CeO2 nanocomposites showing high Pt efficiency in fuel-cell catalysis we also identify these anchoring sites.

CO adsorption on close-packed transition and noble metal surfaces: Trends from ab-initio calculations

Abstract: We have studied the trends in CO adsorption on close-packed metal surfaces: Co, Ni, Cu from the 3d row, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag from the 4d row and Ir, Pt, Au from the 5d row using density functional theory. In particular, we were concerned with the trends in the adsorption energy, the geometry, the vibrational properties and other parameters derived from the electronic structure of the substrate. The influence of specific changes in our setup such as choice of the exchange correlation functional, the choice of pseudopotential and size of the basis set, substrate relaxation has been carefully evaluated. We found that while the geometrical and vibrational properties of the adsorbate-substrate complex are calculated with high accuracy, the adsorption energies calculated with the gradient-corrected Perdew-Wang exchange-correlation energies are overestimated. In addition, the calculations tend to favour adsorption sites with higher coordination, resulting in the prediction of wrong adsorption sites for the Rh, Pt and Cu surfaces (hollow instead of top). The revised Perdew-Burke-Erzernhof functional (RPBE) leads to lower (i.e. more realistic) adsorption energies for transition metals, but to wrong results for noble metals - for Ag and Au endothermic adsorption is predicted. The site preference remains the same. We discuss trends in relation to the electronic structure of the substrate across the Periodic Table, summarizing the state-of-the-art of CO adsorption on close-packed metal surfaces.