Highly Durable PtNi Alloy on Sb-Doped SnO for Oxygen Reduction Reaction with Strong Metal-Support Interaction.

Carbon-supported Pt is currently used as catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells but is handicapped by carbon corrosion at high potential. Herein, a stable PtNi/SnO interface structure has been designed and achieved by a two-step solvothermal method. The robust and conductive Sb-doped SnO supports provide sufficient surfaces to confine PtNi alloy. Moreover, PtNi/Sb SnO presents a more strongly coupled Pt-SnO interface with lattice overlap of Pt (111) and SnO (110), together with enhanced electron transfer from SnO to Pt. Therefore, PtNi/Sb SnO exhibits a high catalytic activity for ORR with a half-wave potential of 0.860 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and a mass activity of 166.2 mA mg @0.9 V in 0.1 M HClO electrolyte. Importantly, accelerated degradation testing (ADT) further identify the inhibition of support corrosion and agglomeration of Pt-based active nanoparticles in PtNi/Sb SnO . This work highlights the significant importance of modulating metal-support interactions for improving the catalytic activity and durability of electrocatalysts.