Lavender-Like Ga-Doped Pt3Co Nanowires for Highly Stable and Active Electrocatalysis

One-dimensional (1D) PtM (M = Fe, Co, Ni) nanowires (NWs), which represent a thriving class of eletrocatalysts for fuel cells, are experiencing the restriction in long-term durability due to the leaching issue of transition metals. Utilizing one-dimensional Pt3Co NWs as the basic catalyst model, here we have successfully demonstrated significant improvements in electrocatalytic durability and activity derived from Ga atoms doping. The optimized surface energy caused by the doping of Ga atoms drives the resulting catalysts to exhibit the good durability for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysis. However, although oxygen binding energy (EO) would rather deviate from the optimal value due to excessive Ga on the surface, the formation of proper Ga-O bonding can also promote oxygen binding to approach an optimal value, which results in the enhancement of ORR activity. It can be therefore concluded the doping of an appropriate amount of Ga atoms has a positive effect in improving the ORR performance ...