{
  "abstract": "Platinum rare earth (Pt-RE) alloys show promise as oxygen reduction reaction catalysts due to their improved activity and durability over conventional Pt-based catalysts. However, their synthesis has remained relatively complicated due to REs high affinity for oxygen. Recently, carbodiimide-mediated synthesis has shown promise under relatively moderate conditions, although it results in nanoparticle formation mostly on the carbon support exterior. We introduce a simple “wet-mix” modification that allows metallic precursors to diffuse into the pores of the Ketjenblack support as nucleation sites, affording a larger proportion of nanoparticles inside of the pores of the carbon black. XRD, HR-TEM, XPS and XAS, indicate higher Pt 2 Gd formation for the conventional carbodiimide route; our synthesis produces Pt 2 Gd with a small fraction of polycrystalline PtGd. Rotating-disk electrode studies showed that a high ionomer loading does not depress the mass activity, specific activity, or ECSA of the wet-synthesized catalyst. We validate this work in 12 cm 2 single-cell PEMFC studies under H 2 /O 2 , with specific activity improvement of 2.27×, and mass activity improvement of 3.04×. While the durability of the catalyst has not significantly improved, we propose reduced ionomer poisoning of the Pt 2 Gd catalyst resulting from our simple “wet-mix” modification to the carbodiimide route improves ORR activity.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) Heidenhofstr. 2,",
    "Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8P 5C2",
    "Centre for Advanced Materials and Related Technologies (CAMTEC, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8P 5C2",
    "Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8P 5C2",
    "Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry (IAAC, University of Freiburg, Albertstraße 21, Freiburg, Germany, 79104",
    "Freiburg Materials Research Center (FMF, University of Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Straße 21, Freiburg, Germany, 79104",
    "Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies (FIT, University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 105, Freiburg, Germany, 79110",
    "Department of Physics, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8P 5C2",
    "Department of Civil Engineering, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8P 5C2"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 10,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Christopher Tremblay"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Kläre Christmann"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        5,
        6
      ],
      "name": "S. Esmael Balaghi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Markus Knäbbeler-Buß"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Cristina Cordoba"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Zohreh Kiaee"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Michael Günthel"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        5,
        6
      ],
      "name": "Anna Fischer"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Arthur Blackburn"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2,
        3,
        8
      ],
      "name": "Heather L. Buckley",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7147-0980"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e9cyvbyyygbx5.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15010661/v1",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "e9cyvbyyygbx5",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010661/v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2105|Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222926581",
  "pdf_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/pdf/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010661/v1",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-19",
  "publisher": "American Chemical Society (ACS)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e9cyvbyyygbx5.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:24Z",
      "native_id": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15010661",
      "source": "chemrxiv",
      "url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010661/v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:2105|Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion",
      "subfield": "electrochemistry-energy"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Simple Modification to Minimize Ionomer Poisoning in Carbodiimide Synthesized Pt-Rare Earth Catalysts",
  "title_text": "Simple Modification to Minimize Ionomer Poisoning in Carbodiimide Synthesized Pt-Rare Earth Catalysts",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:24Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e9cyvbyyygbx5",
  "venue": "ChemRxiv",
  "versions": []
}