Single crystalline thin films as a novel class of electrocatalysts
The ubiquitous use of single crystal metal electrodes has garnered invaluable insight into the relationship between surface atomic structure and functional electrochemical properties. However, the sensitivity of their electrochemical response to surface orientation and the amount of preciou...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Serbian Chemical Society
2013-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0352-5139/2013/0352-51391300119S.pdf |
| Summary: | The ubiquitous use of single crystal metal electrodes has garnered invaluable
insight into the relationship between surface atomic structure and functional
electrochemical properties. However, the sensitivity of their electrochemical
response to surface orientation and the amount of precious metal required can
limit their use. We present here a generally applicable procedure for
producing thin metal films with a large proportion of atomically flat (111)
terraces without the use of an epitaxial template. Thermal annealing in a
controlled atmosphere induces long-range ordering of magnetron sputtered thin
metal films deposited on an amorphous substrate. The ordering transition in
these thin metal films yields characteristic (111) electrochemical signatures
with minimal amount of material and provides an adequate replacement for
oriented bulk single crystals. This procedure can be generalized towards a
novel class of practical multimetallic thin film based electrocatalysts with
tunable near-surface compositional profile and morphology. Annealing of
atomically corrugated sputtered thin film Pt-alloy catalysts yields an
atomically smooth structure with highly crystalline, (111)-like ordered and
Pt segregated surface that displays superior functional properties, bridging
the gap between extended/bulk surfaces and nanoscale systems. |
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| ISSN: | 0352-5139 1820-7421 |