Liquid Metal Electrocatalyst with Ultralow Pt Loading for Ethanol Oxidation

Developing efficient and durable electrocatalysts for ethanol electro‐oxidation is crucial for enabling the application of direct ethanol fuel cell technology. Herein, it is demonstrated that Pt–Ga liquid metal‐based nanodroplets can serve as an efficient electrocatalyst to drive ethanol oxidation....

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Main Authors: Muhammad Hamza Nazir, Tu C. Le, Imtisal Zahid, Karma Zuraiqi, Mew P. Aukarasereenont, Caiden J. Parker, Pierre H. A. Vaillant, Fahad Jabbar, Chung Kim Nguyen, Mehmood Irfan, Mariam Ameen, Michelle J. S. Spencer, Andrew J. Christofferson, Salvy P. Russo, Ken Chiang, Nastaran Meftahi, Torben Daeneke, Dan Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley-VCH 2025-01-01
Series:Small Science
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/smsc.202400370
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author Muhammad Hamza Nazir
Tu C. Le
Imtisal Zahid
Karma Zuraiqi
Mew P. Aukarasereenont
Caiden J. Parker
Pierre H. A. Vaillant
Fahad Jabbar
Chung Kim Nguyen
Mehmood Irfan
Mariam Ameen
Michelle J. S. Spencer
Andrew J. Christofferson
Salvy P. Russo
Ken Chiang
Nastaran Meftahi
Torben Daeneke
Dan Yang
author_facet Muhammad Hamza Nazir
Tu C. Le
Imtisal Zahid
Karma Zuraiqi
Mew P. Aukarasereenont
Caiden J. Parker
Pierre H. A. Vaillant
Fahad Jabbar
Chung Kim Nguyen
Mehmood Irfan
Mariam Ameen
Michelle J. S. Spencer
Andrew J. Christofferson
Salvy P. Russo
Ken Chiang
Nastaran Meftahi
Torben Daeneke
Dan Yang
author_sort Muhammad Hamza Nazir
collection DOAJ
description Developing efficient and durable electrocatalysts for ethanol electro‐oxidation is crucial for enabling the application of direct ethanol fuel cell technology. Herein, it is demonstrated that Pt–Ga liquid metal‐based nanodroplets can serve as an efficient electrocatalyst to drive ethanol oxidation. The mass activity of Pt is significantly improved by alloying with liquid gallium. Guided by machine learning neural networks, a low‐concentration alkaline electrolyte is specifically formulated to allow electrodes with ultralow Pt loading to demonstrate remarkable activity toward ethanol oxidation with a mass activity as high as 13.47 A mg−1Pt, which is more than 14 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C electrocatalysts (i.e., 0.76 A mg−1Pt). Computational studies reveal that the superior activity is associated with the presence of Ga oxides adjacent to Pt on the catalyst surface which leads to energetically favorable pathways for the oxidation process. The findings reveal untapped opportunities in the realm of liquid metal catalysis and hold great promise for the future development of high‐performance alcohol fuel cells.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2688-4046
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Wiley-VCH
record_format Article
series Small Science
spelling doaj-art-7f51e374b6c4406cbc1a09c928a2d9902024-12-30T12:24:30ZengWiley-VCHSmall Science2688-40462025-01-0151n/an/a10.1002/smsc.202400370Liquid Metal Electrocatalyst with Ultralow Pt Loading for Ethanol OxidationMuhammad Hamza Nazir0Tu C. Le1Imtisal Zahid2Karma Zuraiqi3Mew P. Aukarasereenont4Caiden J. Parker5Pierre H. A. Vaillant6Fahad Jabbar7Chung Kim Nguyen8Mehmood Irfan9Mariam Ameen10Michelle J. S. Spencer11Andrew J. Christofferson12Salvy P. Russo13Ken Chiang14Nastaran Meftahi15Torben Daeneke16Dan Yang17Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering School of Engineering RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaDepartment of Manufacturing Materials and Mechatronics School of Engineering RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering School of Engineering RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering School of Engineering RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering School of Engineering RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering School of Engineering RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaSchool of Science RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering School of Engineering RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering School of Engineering RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering School of Engineering RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering School of Engineering RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaSchool of Science RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaSchool of Science RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaSchool of Science RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering School of Engineering RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaSchool of Science RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering School of Engineering RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaDepartment of Chemical and Environmental Engineering School of Engineering RMIT University Melbourne VIC 3001 AustraliaDeveloping efficient and durable electrocatalysts for ethanol electro‐oxidation is crucial for enabling the application of direct ethanol fuel cell technology. Herein, it is demonstrated that Pt–Ga liquid metal‐based nanodroplets can serve as an efficient electrocatalyst to drive ethanol oxidation. The mass activity of Pt is significantly improved by alloying with liquid gallium. Guided by machine learning neural networks, a low‐concentration alkaline electrolyte is specifically formulated to allow electrodes with ultralow Pt loading to demonstrate remarkable activity toward ethanol oxidation with a mass activity as high as 13.47 A mg−1Pt, which is more than 14 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C electrocatalysts (i.e., 0.76 A mg−1Pt). Computational studies reveal that the superior activity is associated with the presence of Ga oxides adjacent to Pt on the catalyst surface which leads to energetically favorable pathways for the oxidation process. The findings reveal untapped opportunities in the realm of liquid metal catalysis and hold great promise for the future development of high‐performance alcohol fuel cells.https://doi.org/10.1002/smsc.202400370direct ethanol fuel cellselectrolyte optimizationsethanol oxidationsliquid metal catalystsmachine learning
spellingShingle Muhammad Hamza Nazir
Tu C. Le
Imtisal Zahid
Karma Zuraiqi
Mew P. Aukarasereenont
Caiden J. Parker
Pierre H. A. Vaillant
Fahad Jabbar
Chung Kim Nguyen
Mehmood Irfan
Mariam Ameen
Michelle J. S. Spencer
Andrew J. Christofferson
Salvy P. Russo
Ken Chiang
Nastaran Meftahi
Torben Daeneke
Dan Yang
Liquid Metal Electrocatalyst with Ultralow Pt Loading for Ethanol Oxidation
Small Science
direct ethanol fuel cells
electrolyte optimizations
ethanol oxidations
liquid metal catalysts
machine learning
title Liquid Metal Electrocatalyst with Ultralow Pt Loading for Ethanol Oxidation
title_full Liquid Metal Electrocatalyst with Ultralow Pt Loading for Ethanol Oxidation
title_fullStr Liquid Metal Electrocatalyst with Ultralow Pt Loading for Ethanol Oxidation
title_full_unstemmed Liquid Metal Electrocatalyst with Ultralow Pt Loading for Ethanol Oxidation
title_short Liquid Metal Electrocatalyst with Ultralow Pt Loading for Ethanol Oxidation
title_sort liquid metal electrocatalyst with ultralow pt loading for ethanol oxidation
topic direct ethanol fuel cells
electrolyte optimizations
ethanol oxidations
liquid metal catalysts
machine learning
url https://doi.org/10.1002/smsc.202400370
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