Tailoring the Electronic Structure of Nanoelectrocatalysts
Induced by a Surface-Capping Organic Molecule for the Oxygen Reduction
Reaction
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Abstract
Capping organic molecules, including
oleylamine, strongly adsorbed
onto Pt nanoparticles during preparation steps are considered undesirable
species for the oxygen reduction reaction due to decreasing electrochemical
active sites. However, we found that a small amount of oleylamine
modified platinum nanoparticles showed significant enhancement of
the electrochemical activity of the oxygen reduction reaction, even
with the loss of the electrochemically active surface area. The enhancement
was correlated with the downshift of the frontier d-band structure
of platinum and the retardation of competitively adsorbed species.
These results suggest that a capping organic molecule modified electrode
can be a strategy to design an advanced electrocatalyst by modification
of electronic structures