Pieter Levecque

Thermodynamic explanation of the universal correlation between oxygen evolution activity and corrosion of oxide catalysts

In recent years, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has attracted increased research interest due to its crucial role in electrochemical energy conversion devices for renewable energy applications. The vast majority of OER catalyst materials investigated are metal oxides of various compositions. The experimental results obtained on such materials strongly suggest the existence of a fundamental and universal correlation between the oxygen evolution activity and the corrosion of metal oxides. This corrosion manifests itself in structural changes and/or dissolution of the material. We prove from basic thermodynamic considerations that any metal oxide must become unstable under oxygen evolution conditions irrespective of the pH value. The reason is the thermodynamic instability of the oxygen anion in the metal oxide lattice. Our findings explain many of the experimentally observed corrosion phenomena on different metal oxide OER catalysts.

The Effect of Platinum Nanoparticle Distribution on Oxygen Electroreduction Activity and Selectivity

The catalytic activity and selectivity of Pt nanoparticles towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) were investigated as a function of the Pt catalyst distribution. By means of the sputtering deposition technique, it was possible to fabricate Pt catalysts with different loadings that consisted of dispersed 2–3 nm particles, nanoparticle agglomerates and extended particulate layers. The transition from dispersed nanoparticles to extended layers led to a decrease in the electrochemical surface area (ECSA, m2Pt gPt−1) and to a shift of the platinum oxide reduction peak to more positive potentials, which indicates a decrease in the adsorption energy for oxygenated species. The latter finding was correlated to the observed decrease in specific activity with the increasing ECSA, that is, in the case of isolated nanoparticles, the higher adsorption energy for oxygenated species causes a reduction in the specific activity towards the ORR as larger amounts of active sites are blocked compared to extended surfaces. The presented data of specific and mass activity versus ECSA were found to follow a “master curve” obtained by comparing normalised Pt activities from different studies. The transition from dispersed Pt nanoparticles to extended layers also influences the Pt selectivity. At a decreased interparticle distance, a significant increase in the H2O2 production was observed below 0.6 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode, which indicates the important role of a H2O2 desorption–readsorption reaction mechanism during the ORR on Pt nanoparticles.

The Effect of Platinum Loading and Surface Morphology on Oxygen Reduction Activity

AbstractThe catalytic activity of Pt catalysts towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was investigated on a catalyst system developed by thermally induced chemical deposition of Pt on carbon. The use of this deposition method made it possible to prepare a practical catalyst system with various Pt loadings on the support. Increasing the Pt loading caused a change in the Pt surface morphology which was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and CO stripping voltammetry measurements. The occurrence of a low and high-potential CO oxidation peak suggested the presence of Pt agglomerates and Pt nanoparticles, respectively. An increase in Pt loading lead to a subsequent decrease in the electrochemical surface area (ECSA, m2Pt/gPt) as the platinum surface transitioned from isolated platinum nanoparticles to platinum agglomerates. The specific activity was found to increase with increasing Pt loadings, while the mass activity decreased with loading. The mass and specific activity data from this study was found to follow a ‘master curve’ obtained by the comparison of normalised activities from various different studies in the literature. Pt selectivity was also affected by Pt loading and hence Pt surface morphology. At low Pt loadings, i.e. large interparticle distances, the amount of H2O2 produced was significantly higher than for high Pt loadings. This confirms the presence of a ‘series reaction pathway’ and highlights the importance of the H2O2 desorption-readsorption mechanism on Pt nanoparticles and the ultimate role of Pt interparticle distance on the ORR mechanism. Graphical AbstractEffect of platinum loading and surface morphology on oxygen reduction activity

The use of ultrastable Y zeolites in the Ferrier rearrangement of acetylated and benzylated glycals

The Ferrier rearrangement of a selection of protected glycals was successfully performed using a commercially available H-USY zeolite CBV-720 as catalyst, selected after screening a range of similar catalysts. By incorporating either alcohols, thiophenol, trimethylsilyl azide or allyltrimethylsilane in the reaction it was shown that a range of O-, S-, N- and C-glycosides could be formed. With benzylated glucal and galactal in particular, use of the CBV-720 catalyst led to significantly higher yields of the 2,3-dehydroglycosides than previously reported.

Electronic metal-support interaction enhanced oxygen reduction activity and stability of boron carbide supported platinum

Catalysing the reduction of oxygen in acidic media is a standing challenge. Although activity of platinum, the most active metal, can be substantially improved by alloying, alloy stability remains a concern. Here we report that platinum nanoparticles supported on graphite-rich boron carbide show a 50–100% increase in activity in acidic media and improved cycle stability compared to commercial carbon supported platinum nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy and x-ray absorption fine structure analysis confirm similar platinum nanoparticle shapes, sizes, lattice parameters, and cluster packing on both supports, while x-ray photoelectron and absorption spectroscopy demonstrate a change in electronic structure. This shows that purely electronic metal-support interactions can significantly improve oxygen reduction activity without inducing shape, alloying or strain effects and without compromising stability. Optimizing the electronic interaction between the catalyst and support is, therefore, a promising approach for advanced electrocatalysts where optimizing the catalytic nanoparticles themselves is constrained by other concerns.

Regio-and stereoselective terpene epoxidation using tungstate-exchanged takovites : a study of phase purity, takovite composition and stable catalytic activity

Nanocrystalline tungstate-exchanged layered double hydroxides of the takovite type, [Ni(x)Al(1-x)(OH)(2)](NO(3))(0.9-x)(WO(4))(0.05).mH(2)O, have been prepared with changing values of x. The morphology-texture parameters of the synthesized materials were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy and nitrogen adsorption techniques. X-Ray diffraction, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, (27)Al MAS NMR and infrared spectroscopy were applied to study the structure and the phase purity of the tungstate exchanged materials. Identification of the tungsten state was attempted by infrared and Raman spectroscopy. The catalytic properties of the pure tungstate exchanged takovites were tested in the bromide-assisted epoxidation of terpenic olefins using H(2)O(2) as environmental benign oxidant. The bromide-assisted oxidation shows very interesting chemo-selectivity for various substrates with unique regio- and stereo-selectivity often opposite to that of many traditional methods. The activity of the tungstate catalyst was observed to highly depend on the Al content in the takovite support, most likely due to efficient charge shielding at the catalysts surface. Tungstate exchanged on Al-rich takovite has a remarkable oxidation activity in terms of turnover frequency. Moreover, the takovite catalyst was found to be stable under reaction conditions and recyclable.

Epoxidation–alcoholysis of cyclic enol ethers catalyzed by Ti(OiPr)4 or Venturello's peroxophosphotungstate complex

Venturellos peroxophosphotungstate compound and Ti(O(i)Pr)(4) were successfully used as catalysts for the epoxidation-alcoholysis of various dihydropyrans and dihydrofuran using H(2)O(2) as the oxidant. Different alcohols can be used as solvents and nucleophiles, resulting in hydroxy ether products with varying alkoxy groups. The Venturello compound can also be used as catalyst in a biphasic conversion of dihydropyran, in which long chain alcohols or fatty acids are incorporated in the hydroxy ether products with high yield and (stereo)selectivity.

Solution-Grown Dendritic Pt-Based Ternary Nanostructures for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reaction Functionality

Nanoalloys with anisotropic morphologies of branched and porous internal structures show great promise in many applications as high performance materials. Reported synthetic approaches for branched alloy nanostructures are, however, limited by the synthesis using a seed-growth process. Here, we demonstrate a conveniently fast and one-pot solution-phase thermal reduction strategy yielding nanoalloys of Pt with various solute feed ratios, exhibiting hyperbranched morphologies and good dispersity. When Pt was alloyed with transition metals (Ni, Co, Fe), we observed well-defined dendritic nanostructures in PtNi, PtCo and Pt(NiCo), but not in PtFe, Pt(FeNi) or Pt(FeCo) due to the steric hindrance of the trivalent Fe(acac)3 precursor used during synthesis. In the case of Pt-based nanoalloys containing Ni and Co, the dendritic morphological evolution observed was insensitive to large variations in solute concentration. The functionality of these nanoalloys towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR); however, was observed to be dependent on the composition, increasing with increasing solute content. Pt3(NiCo)2 exhibited superior catalytic activity, affording about a five- and 10-fold enhancement in area-specific and mass-specific catalytic activities, respectively, compared to the standard Pt/C nanocatalyst. This solution-based synthetic route offers a new approach for constructing dendritic Pt-based nanostructures with excellent product yield, monodispersity and high crystallinity.

Towards practical applications of EQCN experiments to study Pt anchor sites on carbon surfaces

AbstractThis work investigates the viability and outlines the current challenges in electrochemical quartz crystal nanobalance (EQCN) experiments on supported Pt catalysts. EQCN experiments involving Pt supported on 2-D “surface-treated graphite sputtered onto quartz crystal” (Pt/MFG-H) catalysts were compared to standard polycrystalline Pt (Ptpoly), which showed similarities in frequency versus potential trends; however, the Pt/MFG-H catalysts obtained higher frequencies due to the support capacitance. The physical characterizations (XRD and XPS) and electrochemical responses, mainly cyclic voltammetry in acidic media and the ferri/ferrocyanide couple, of the 2-D Pt/MFG-H were compared to the representative 2-D Pt supported on treated highly orientated pyrolytic graphite (Pt/HOPG-H), in order to make assertions on the similarities between the two catalysts. The XRD diffraction patterns and the XPS valence band structure for the treated and untreated MFG (-H and -P, respectively) and HOPG (-H and -P, respectively) demonstrated similarities. Nevertheless, the cyclic voltammograms and peak positions of the ferri/ferrocyanide couple between the treated and untreated MFG and HOPG catalysts were dissimilar. However, EQCN may be used qualitatively between the two different 2-D catalysts since the same trends in electrochemical responses before and after treatment of the MFG and HOPG catalysts were seen. Hence, the EQCN technique can be used in future studies as an alternative method to study degradation mechanisms of Pt and carbon for PEFCs. Graphical Abstractᅟ

Facile deposition of Pt nanoparticles on Sb-doped SnO2 support with outstanding active surface area for the oxygen reduction reaction

Understanding the influence of the support on the electrocatalytic behaviour of platinum is key to the development of novel Pt/oxide catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). For studies to isolate these effects, highly dispersed supported Pt nanoparticles with well-controlled particle sizes are required. In this study, we demonstrate a novel preparation process for Pt/oxide catalysts, with small Pt nanoparticles (2.5–3.5 nm), supported on a commercial Sb–SnO2 (ATO) nanopowder, with a very high utilization of the Pt-precursor. The organometallic chemical deposition method produces catalyst nanoparticles with a homogeneous distribution over the surface of the support even at high Pt metal loadings. Additionally, by using a mild hydrogen reduction treatment of the oxide support prior to Pt deposition, significantly smaller Pt nanoparticles were obtained with an outstanding mass-specific electrochemically active surface area exceeding 100 m2 g−1. Furthermore, by varying the Pt metal loading, several fundamental electrocatalytic effects that strongly influence the Pt/ATO system were distinguished. Good electrochemical stability during high-potential cycling was observed and was attributed to potential-dependent in situ conductivity switching of the ATO support. In turn, ORR activities of the Pt/ATO catalysts were found to be influenced by a combination of Pt particle size effects, ATO support in situ conductivity limitations at PEFC operation potentials, and electrocatalytic metal–support interactions. Therefore, in addition to demonstrating a powerful method for the preparation of exceptionally high surface area Pt/oxide catalysts, the present study contributes to the detailed understanding of the interplay between various phenomena that influence the electrocatalytic activity and stability of Pt/oxide systems for the ORR. Furthermore, the novel preparation approach for Pt/metal oxide catalysts could be of major interest for catalyst preparation in other fields of electrocatalysis and heterogeneous catalysis.