Synergistic Modulation of Multiple Sites Boosts Anti-Poisoning Hydrogen Electrooxidation Reaction with Ultrasmall (PtRh)V Ternary Intermetallic Nanoparticles.

Promoting the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) activity and poisoning tolerance of electrocatalysts is crucial for the large-scale application of hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell. However, it is severely hindered by the scaling relations among different intermediates. Herein, lattice-contracted Pt-Rh in ultrasmall ternary L1-(PtRh)V intermetallic nanoparticles (~2.2 nm) were fabricated to promote the HOR performances through an oxides self-confined growth strategy. The prepared (PtRh)V displayed 5.5/3.7 times promotion in HOR mass/specific activity than Pt/C in pure H and dramatically limited activity attenuation in 1000 ppm CO/H mixture. In situ Raman spectra tracked the superior anti-CO* capability as a result of compressive strained Pt, and the adsorption of oxygen-containing species was promoted due to the dual-functional effect. Further assisted by density functional theory calculations, both the adsorption of H* and CO* on (PtRh)V were reduced compared with that of Pt due to lattice contraction, while the adsorption of OH* was enhanced by introducing oxyphilic Rh sites. This work provides an effective tactic to stimulate the electrocatalytic performances by optimizing the adsorption of different intermediates severally.