Universal and Energy-Efficient Approach to Synthesize Pt-Rare Earth Metal Alloys for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Abstract

Traditional synthesis methods of platinum-rare earth metal (Pt-RE) alloys usually involve harsh conditions and high energy consumption because of the low standard reduction potentials and high oxophilicity of RE metals. In this work, a one-step strategy is developed by rapid Joule thermal-shock (RJTS) to synthesize Pt-RE alloys within tens of seconds. The method can not only realize the regulation of alloy size, but also a universal method for the preparation of a family of Pt-RE alloys (RE = Ce, La, Gd, Sm, Tb, Y). In addition, the energy consumption of the Pt-RE alloy preparation is only 0.052 kW h, which is 2–3 orders of magnitude lower than other reported methods. This method allows individual Pt-RE alloy to be embedded in the carbon substrate, endowing the alloy catalyst excellent durability for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The performance of alloy catalyst shows negligible decay after 20k accelerated durability testing (ADT) cycles. This strategy offers a new route to synthesize noble/non-noble metal alloys with diversified applications besides ORR.