Simple Modification to Minimize Ionomer Poisoning in Carbodiimide Synthesized Pt-Rare Earth Catalysts
9 affiliations
- 1Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) Heidenhofstr. 2,
- 2Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8P 5C2
- 3Centre for Advanced Materials and Related Technologies (CAMTEC, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8P 5C2
- 4Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8P 5C2
- 5Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry (IAAC, University of Freiburg, Albertstraße 21, Freiburg, Germany, 79104
- 6Freiburg Materials Research Center (FMF, University of Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Straße 21, Freiburg, Germany, 79104
- 7Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies (FIT, University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 105, Freiburg, Germany, 79110
- 8Department of Physics, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8P 5C2
- 9Department of Civil Engineering, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8P 5C2
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.
Related
- Metal‐Support Interaction Triggered Electronic Reconstruction in Pd/CoN‐Co 4 N Catalysts for Optimizing MEK Oxidation and Poisoning Resistance
- Deconvoluting the Convoluted: Structural Ramifications of Postsynthetic Linkage Modification in COF-366-Co Catalysts
- Promoter-Dependent Effects of Trace CeO2 Modification on Al2O3-Supported Ni–Ru and Ni–Rh Catalysts for CO2 Methanation
- From Promotion to Poisoning: Temperature- and Coverage-Dependent Effects of Trace Fe on the Hydrogen Evolution Activity of Pt
- Scombroid poisoning: an anaphylaxis mimic
BibTeX
@misc{tremblay2026simple,
title = {{Simple Modification to Minimize Ionomer Poisoning in Carbodiimide Synthesized Pt-Rare Earth Catalysts}},
author = {Christopher Tremblay and Kläre Christmann and S. Esmael Balaghi and Markus Knäbbeler-Buß and Cristina Cordoba and Zohreh Kiaee and Michael Günthel and Anna Fischer and Arthur Blackburn and Heather L. Buckley},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15010661/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010661/v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Simple Modification to Minimize Ionomer Poisoning in Carbodiimide Synthesized Pt-Rare Earth Catalysts
AU - Christopher Tremblay
AU - Kläre Christmann
AU - S. Esmael Balaghi
AU - Markus Knäbbeler-Buß
AU - Cristina Cordoba
AU - Zohreh Kiaee
AU - Michael Günthel
AU - Anna Fischer
AU - Arthur Blackburn
AU - Heather L. Buckley
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15010661/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010661/v1
AB - 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.
ER -